HP 2: Secrets with Serpents
by fictionfangirl1
Summary: CoS: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ezra return to Hogwarts for their 2nd year. What happens when impending messages appear on castle walls, students are attacked and stiffen out of nowhere, and a diary that seems to be the center of this mystery, all suspiciously pointing to Harry? Also all things related to "Harry Potter" belong to J.K. Rowling (amazing woman!); OCs in here are mine.
1. Chapter 1

Hey y'all, remember me? Ezra Redcreek. First student from the States to go to Hogwarts in the UK, and one-fourth of the Golden Quartet with my British best friends Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter. Let me tell you, our first year at Hogwarts had many episodes, good and bad, that we will remember.

I didn't change much over summer, except that I grew a couple of inches taller. My hair grew a bit, and my widow's peak was slightly more pronounced, but it still ended at my neck. Summer was busy for me. I was juggling between doing homework for Transfiguration, owling letters to my school friends, and hanging out with my old friends. The minute I got back, I was bombarded with questions from them. It took me about a while to answer every single one, being careful not to reveal anything that had to do with magic.

I can tell you that once I got home from King's Cross and told my parents what happened last year, they were amazed…Okay, "amazed" is the wrong word. Especially since they noticed me walking with a limp, and the fact that I kinda skirted around any questions from Dad about the times that I got into trouble. But Mom eventually found out what happened, thanks to her discreetly slipping a truth-telling potion in my soda one day. It made me spill out everything that happened down in the dungeons, from Fluffy to Quirrell and Voldemort. All I can say was, she wasn't too thrilled about what we did in the dungeons.

I got berated with questions like, "What were you kids thinking?! You could've died!" or "Why were you out sneaking around when you could have been caught?" and the ever repeating "Putting yourselves in danger like that! Where was your common sense?" Dad tried to calm her down, but she turned on him with her famous glare that said, _"Don't start with me, mister!"_ "Ma, you gotta understand! The Stone was at risk and You-Know-Who was hunting for it to get stronger. We just wanted to find a way he wouldn't get it," I argued. She let out an exasperated sigh, "I'm sorry, Ez. You four did a noble thing. I just was so worried about what happened." Dad added, "We know this involved You-Know-Who and you wanted to help your friends, but ya shoulda left to the professors, not go off an' play detective, 'specially since you and Harry suffered the most damage." "I understand, Dad. I'm sorry, and I promise not to do something reckless like that again," I said, walking off. "Hold it, _missy_ ," my mother interrupted. I started to sweat a little bit, because whenever she calls me "missy", it's never a good thing. "We can see you understand the seriousness of your actions, but you're not off the hook just yet. Double chores and no friends over for two weeks. Starting tomorrow, clear?" "Yessum," I responded dejectedly before going up to my room so that I could finish my letter to Ron.

It was a month into summer break, and I had been feeling anxious over one of my friends. Hermione, Ron, and I had written to Harry all summer, but we didn't get a reply back, much less see Hedwig with a delivery. In the back of my mind, was starting to think that he had forgotten about us. Mom would often tell me to be patient and remember that he was living with his No-Maj relatives, so maybe it was still weird for them. I tried to tell her that I was patient…for about a month, and I didn't think that I shoulda had to wait for a letter from him. I was slightly perturbed about the lack of response from Harry, but kept thinking, _"He's got a reason for the late reply."_

It was extremely cloudy the next day, almost foggy. I was about to finish writing a birthday letter with a gift attached for Harry one last time before I thought about the worst, when I heard a car engine rumble close by. Not only that, but it seemed like its headlights were shining right in my window. _What the-?_ I got up from my desk and went to investigate. Turns out the car was floating right outside my window with Ron, Fred, and George driving it.

They had stopped about three feet away from my window and were in some sort of argument. "Now, Ron, are you absolutely positive that this is the right place?" George asked with slight irritation in his voice. "Yeah, Ezra gave me her address so I could write to her. We've been following the map to her home city and state. How was I to know that there are multiple houses with the same address in different states?" Ron answered slightly unsure about his answer. "Well, we've been flying for ages, across England, an entire ocean, and most, if not all of the States," Fred said, agreeing with his twin brother in testiness. "If this isn't the place _again,_ we'll have to turn back and get Harry without her." "Boo!" I shouted and promptly spooked them, giggling at my lame attempt to get their attention. "That was not funny, Ezra. Bloody hell," Ron said, trying to calm down after being jolted. "Sorry. I wanted to make sure I wasn't goin' crazy when I saw you guys. What are y'all doin' here? And what's with the flying car? Y'all are gonna get in trouble for doing magic outta school."

"Oh, don't worry about us Ezzy. This doesn't count. You see, it's our dad's Ford Anglia, so we're not doing any magic," George explained from the back seat. It sorta irked me that he called me "Ezzy." The only person I allowed to do that was my father, and he didn't do it much. "And to answer your other question: Ron got your letter about how Harry wasn't replying to your messages, just like him and Hermione. So we decided to see for ourselves and possibly pick you up on the way." "That makes sense," I stated. "Now c'mon kid, pack your trunk. You'll be staying with us until we have to go back to Hogwarts" Fred stated. "You mean _suitcase_?" I wondered. " _Right_ , different words in America…forgot. Yeah, pack that up and your owl cage can go in the boot…uh, _trunk_?" "Right."

I packed up my suitcase with my Hogwarts gear and placed Polaris near the back window so Fred could still see behind him. Before climbing out the window, I scribbled a quick note to my parents telling them about our impromptu plan to rescue Harry and that I would be staying with Ron's family until school started. The boys helped me climb into the car and I sat next to George in the back. I was surprised to see the steering wheel on the right-hand side of the car, instead of the left. _Must be an English thing…_ "You guys _do_ have enough gas in the tank to take us to Harry's, right?" I asked, realizing how far they came to see me. "Don't worry, there's plenty. Have we ever let you down?" Fred asked with a smile. Turning to Ron I said, "With those two in charge, that's a possibility." "Definitely," Ron replied back. "Where's the trust? How could you say that, Ezzy?" the twins dramatically whined. "Oh, suck it up 'n drive. It's gonna be a long trip. _And don't call me Ezzy!_ It sounds childish," I shot back and got them to drive away from my house to Privet Drive.

It took almost half a day to reach Privet Drive. Fred, George, and Ron kept on taking turns during the trip. When we finally did, we saw bars drilled on Harry's window. It almost looked like he was in a jail cell instead of his room. Fred was driving again and inched the car as close as possible. Harry looked completely bewildered. "Hiya, Harry," Ron said. "Didja miss us?" I said grinning. "Ron, Fred, George, Ezra…What are you all doing here?" Harry asked, happy and surprised to see us. "Rescuing you of course! Now come on, get your trunk," Ron directed.

While Harry was packing, George and I handed Ron a rope with a hook tied to it. He attached the hook to the bars. "Better stand back," Ron warned, and Harry did. "Let's go," Ron said. Fred turned the car around and drove forwards, tearing both the bars and the window. We forgot that it would make so much noise, because not 5 seconds later, someone in the house yelled, "POTTER!" Harry was in the middle of giving Hedwig to Ron when we heard the shouting and jangling of keys. Time apparently wasn't on our side, 'cause we had to rush putting Harry's things in the car now that his relatives were on their way.

"C'mon Harry! Hurry up!" Ron urged. "You can do it mate!" George said. Right as we had secured his suitcase and Hedwig in the car, the door opened and Harry's uncle screamed, "Petunia, he's escaping!" Harry was halfway out of the window when his uncle grabbed his ankle and started to pull him back in while fighting against me and Ron who hung onto Harry to pull him into the car. "Let go of me!" Harry shouted. "Oh no! You and that bloody pigeon aren't going _anywhere_!" his uncle refused. "Get off!" Harry shot back. "Floor it, Fred! Floor it!" I yelled. Fred obeyed and we drove away, narrowly escaping. Harry's uncle released his grip on Harry and fell onto the bushes about 12 below. Harry slammed the car door and locked it tight.

Ron turned to Harry and said, "By the way, Harry, happy birthday!" "I was gonna owl this to you, but Ron mentioned it already. So from me to you, happy birthday, Harry," I added handing him a package and envelope attachment. "Thanks guys. You made today a whole lot better for me," Harry replied, and we headed on our way the Burrow.


	2. Chapter 2

It took until sunrise the next morning to reach the Burrow. I was the only one to fall asleep on the ride there, until I felt the car begin to descend and touch the ground. "Ezzy, wake up. We're here," Fred gently rocked my shoulder. I yawned and found my head resting on his shoulder. "How long was I asleep?" I asked. "You dozed off about an hour after we got Harry, so almost the whole trip. It's weird how you stayed awake for the whole time after we picked you up, but a bit after Harry comes in, you're out like a light." "I was probably still operatin' on Pacific Time. You guys are 8 hours ahead of us, you know, so it's hard to switch time zones so quickly," I explained. " _And my name's not Ezzy!_ It sounds so juvenile when you call me that." I could see Ron and Harry holding in laughter on the side and I looked at them saying, "Don't you two start."

The Burrow was a house that looked like a tower about 50 feet tall and was built on a narrow structure. "Whoa…" Harry gasped, amazed. "Yeah, whoa is right," I agreed. Fred opened up the back door and lifted the window. He checked to see if anyone was inside, and led us to the kitchen. He told us to be quiet when coming in, so we wouldn't wake anyone up. Thankfully it was quiet already and no one was in the kitchen. Harry noticed a brush scrubbing a frying pan all by itself, by magic. "Do you think it would be alright if we had some of this?" Ron whispered, pointing to a basket of rolls on the table. "Yeah, Mum'll never know," Fred replied and he, Ron, and George took one each and started eating.

I was interested in the grandfather clock to the side, only it didn't tell the time. It had pictures of Ron and the twins on the clock hands that looked like spoons and they changed positon depending on who was where. It had locations like: **Home, School, Dentist, Quidditch,** (and surprisingly) **Prison**. There was a scarf enchanted to knit itself in an armchair next to all of us. "It's not much - but it's home," Ron commented, his mouth semi-full with the roll. "I think it's brilliant," Harry complimented. "One of the coolest houses I've ever seen," I added, and Ron smiled at us.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by Mrs. Weasley stomping into the room. "Where have you been?" she barked. Her sons immediately hid the rolls behind their backs and stared wide-eyed at her. Then she noticed me and Harry standing next to Ron. "Harry, how wonderful to see you dear! Ezra, nice to see you and you've gotten a bit taller since I last saw you!" she walked over to us with a grin before going back to berating her sons. "Beds empty, no note, car gone. You could've died! You could've been seen! Not to mention, you could've landed somewhere in the Atlantic and been stranded!" She went back to using her soft voice when talking to us, "Of course I don't blame you Harry. Ezra, please tell me they didn't put you up to this." "They were starving him, Mum. There were bars on his window!" Ron tried to explain. "And these guys didn't put me up to anything, Mrs. Weasley. I chose to help them and get Harry," I replied, hoping to help defend the boys. "Well you'd best hope I don't put bars on _your_ window, Ronald Weasley," she threatened her youngest son. "Now then you two, time for a spot of breakfast." She led us towards the table for us to sit down. My stomach rumbled when I smelled some eggs frying, reminding me that it had been a while since I had eaten anything. The last thing I had was cereal yesterday morning.

Mrs. Weasley was cooking breakfast and occasionally casted dirty looks at her sons. She dished out bacon, eggs, and sausages for all of us, making sure that Harry had extra helpings. Mrs. Weasley kept muttering to herself about how reckless our endeavor was. "It was cloudy, Mum!" Fred argued. "You keep your mouth closed while eating!" Mrs. Weasley snapped at him. "And we were careful while flying over the ocean and the States to get Ezra!" George tried to justify, but his mother turned on him and shouted, "And you!" She gave Ron the stink eye and the five of us finished our plates in scared silence.

Then someone came bounding down the staircase. It was a girl, about 11 years old with the same bright ginger hair as her family. I guessed that this was Ginny, the youngest kid and only girl. "Mummy, have you seen my jumper?" she asked. "Yes, dear. It was on the cat," Mrs. Weasley replied. "Hello," Harry said, being polite. Ginny's eyes widened and she raced back to her room. "What did I do wrong?" Harry wondered. "It's not you. Ginny's been talking about you all summer; bit annoying really," Ron said.

"Blimey, I'm tired. I'll follow Ezra's example and-" Fred started, but Mrs. Weasley rounded on him and said, "You will not! It's your fault you've been up all night. You're going to de-gnome the garden. They've gotten completely out of hand again-" "Mum-" Fred moaned. "And you two as well!" she added turning to George and Ron. Harry and I were allowed to go to bed, but the two of us were wide awake and offered to help with de-gnoming.

The Weasley boys trudged out to the garden, with Harry and I following them. Ron spotted a gnome hiding in a nearby bush, and pulled it out for us to see. "This is a gnome." It looked like a squatty, ugly little man with knots on his head. It kept squirming, scuffling and growled, "Geroff me!" "You have spin and toss them over the hedge. They don't get hurt, just dizzy enough not to walk back to their holes," Ron explained and demonstrated by twirling the gnome over his head and throwing over the hedges about 20 feet away. "Pitiful. I bet George and I could get it past the stump," Fred commented. "As if! 20 bucks _each_ says that I can get mine to that there fence," I challenged, pointing to a fence about 10 feet further than the stump. "That's fine in American Muggle money, but how much is that in wizard money?" George asked, his eyes glinting in amusement. "Oh, yeah. You have to exchange your money a lot. So what is it?" Ron asked, interested in our bet. "Lemme see… about $6.50 to a galleon…3 galleons each," I calculated after a minute. "You're on!" the twins said. Fred launched his gnome and it landed two feet past the stump, and George's landed about a foot past the stump. I was starting to get nervous when it was my turn. I spun my gnome about 10 times before hurling it. It sailed through the air and landed a few inches past the fence. "Wicked!" Ron shouted. The twins fumbled through their pockets and reluctantly handed me my winnings. "Pleasure doin' business with ya fellas," I said, hooking my thumbs on imaginary suspender straps. "Beginner's luck," George groaned.

Harry had a turn and was having a hard time catching a gnome until one bit his finger. He desperately shook his hand to get him off and chucked it way past where our gnomes landed. "Bloody hell, Harry! That must have been about 50 feet!" Ron gasped. "It's official, you've won this round," George said dramatically. I let out an impressed whistle and joked, "Well, I'm in trouble. Harry, if you keep throwin' like that, Wood might kick me off the team and make you Seeker and Alternate Chaser." Ron found this funny and laughed with me. "Thanks, but I'll keep my Seeker position. You're a natural, and all those surprise plays you pull off during matches, incredible," Harry refused. "Besides…" the twins began, "Quidditch would be boring without you!" "You could even give the Slytherin team some pointers, Ezzy. They need it," Ron commented. "That'll be the day, when quidditch becomes boring _and_ when Flint and his team of brutes come to me for help" I scoffed. "And Ron _… don't call me Ezzy!_ I blame you two for starting this!" I playfully retorted pointing at the twins and glanced at Harry, daring him to copy Ron.

Then the house's front door slammed shut. "Dad's home!" George said. We all ran back before Mr. Weasley noticed us, "Morning, Weasleys!" "Morning, Dad!" the boys responded while Mrs. Weasley said, "Morning, Arthur!" "What a night! Nine raids, nine!" Mr. Weasley said, before sitting down. "Raids?" Harry asked. "Dad works at the Ministry of Magic, in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. He loves Muggles; thinks they're fascinating," Ron explained. "Then my daddy and yo' daddy would get along just fine. He's still excited about the wizarding experience and wants to know everything he can," I mused, getting Ron and Harry to laugh. Mr. Weasley took a seat at the table and turned his head to me and Harry. "Ezra, good to see you, girl…And who are you?" he asked. "Oh, sorry sir. I'm Harry, sir. Harry Potter," Harry introduced himself. "Good lord, are you really? Well, Ron's told us all about you. When did he get here?" "This morning. You sons flew that enchanted car of yours not only to Surrey, but also across America and back a while ago," Mrs. Weasley answered tersely facing him. "Did you really? How did it go? How were the States?" Mr. Weasley asked interested. We started to answer, but his wife smacked him on the arm and he quickly changed his tune, "I mean…that was _very wrong indeed_ , boys! Very wrong of you to do so!" Mr. Weasley went on to asking Harry questions about living with Muggles until an owl screeching cut Harry off from giving an awkward answer.

"Oh, that'll be Errol with the post," Mrs. Weasley observed. It looked like Errol would make it through the window, but he smashed into the window. "…Fetch it Percy, will you?" The Hogwarts Prefect walked over the fallen owl to check the delivery. "Oh look! It's our Hogwarts letters; and they've sent Harry's and Ezra's here as well." "Dumbledore must know you two are here. Doesn't miss a trick, that man," Mr. Weasley mused. The twins scanned through the list and Fred said, "This lot won't come cheap, Mum. The spell books alone are very expensive." I read through my list and saw the only differences being _Standard Books of Spells (Grade 2)_ and a long list of books by a guy named Gilderoy Lockhart. "We'll manage," Mrs. Weasley replied. "There's only one place we're going to get all of this: Diagon Alley."


	3. Chapter 3

After breakfast, everyone gathered in front of a large fireplace in our wizard cloaks. Harry, Ron his brothers, and I had on our Hogwarts robes with the Gryffindor crest on them while Ginny had a regular purple cloak. Mrs. Weasley picked up a flowerpot with dust that looked like gray sand and said, "All right Harry, you go first dear," pointing to the entrance of the fireplace. "But Harry's never traveled by Floo Powder before, Mum," Ron pointed out. "Floo Powder?" Harry wondered. "It's powder that lets you travel quickly from one location to another with a fireplace. You have to say where it is you want to go before throwing the powder down," I explained. "You've used Floo Powder before, Ezra?" Mr. Weasley asked. "A couple of times, yes," I said. "Well then, you go first Ron, so Harry can see how it's done" Mrs. Weasley replied. Ron nodded, and took a hand full of the powder and said, "DIagon Alley!" He threw it down as was engulfed by a bunch of green flames. We all had to back up and Mr. Weasley covered Ginny's eyes. _That fire almost blinded us!_ "You see? It's quite easy. Don't be afraid, now. Come on," Mrs. Weasley encouraged. Harry ducked his head as he entered the fireplace like Ron did and took a handful of powder. "That's it. Very good, now don't forget to speak VERY clearly," she warned. Harry hesitated for a moment before uttering, "Diagonally!" and threw the powder down. "What did he say, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked her husband. "Diagonally," he repeated. "I thought he did," she mused. _Aw, crud. That doesn't sound too good,_ I thought before taking my turn with the powder.

We went to Gringotts so that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley could make a withdrawl to get money to buy their children's supplies. Then, they took me to the section in the bank where I had to exchange my No-Maj money for some Galleons and Sickles. Once that was done, Mrs. Weasley took Ginny to Ollivander's for her wand and Mr. Weasley went with his sons to Flourish and Blotts for their books. They let me go to Madam Malkin's to get new measurements for my robes and told me to meet them at the bookstore. After Madam resized me and altered my new robes, I paid her and was on my way to Flourish when I ran into someone and collided with them. "Aw crud, I'm so sorry. I wasn't lookin' at where I was headed an'…" I was cut off with a gasp from the other person and realized who I bumped into. "Ezra, so good to see you!" "Hi Hermione! I missed you, girl!" We hugged each other and went on our way to Flourish when Hermione spotted Hagrid and an ash-covered Harry. "Harry! Hagrid!" "Hullo, Hermione, good to see ya. An' Ezra too, how have ya been?" "I'm alright, Hagrid, thanks for askin'," I replied, hugging him. "Oh, it's so great to see you," she said to Harry. "Well it's great to see _you_." "Harry, where did you end up with the Floo Powder? Ya look like you been rollin' around in dirt," I wondered. "I ended up in this dodgy shop in Knockturn Alley," Harry replied. "Hol' up, your glasses are broken again. Oculus Reparo," I said, using the same spell Hermione used on the train ride last year. In an instant, the crack on the lenses disappeared and his glasses looked like new. "I definitely need to remember that one," he mused. We all said "Bye" to Hagrid after he check us over and went on his way to finish his errands. Hermione practically dragged Harry to Flourish and Blotts where the Weasley family was looking for us, and apparently, so were my parents. "I found them Mrs. R," Hermione said. "Thank you, Hermione," Mom replied and called Dad over. "Harry, good to see you again, boy," Dad greeted. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Redcreek. How did you know we would be here?" Harry wondered. "We read Ezra's note about her goin' with Ron and his brothers to rescue you and that y'all would be stayin' at their house until school started back up, 'n figured we'd help her with any new things for the year she has to pick up."

"Oh Harry, thank goodness! We'd hope you had only gone about one grate too far!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed and tried to wipe the soot off his face. "Diana, how lovely to see you here! Are you and Tyler here to pick up Ezra?" "Yes, but also my husband wanted an excuse to travel back to Diagon Alley. He's fanatic about wizarding, like Arthur is with anything to do with No-Majs - I mean, Muggles," Mom laughed and told Mrs. Weasley. "Then I'm sure those two will get along perfectly, just like with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ezra," she mused.

It was crowded, mostly with swooning witches, inside the bookstore, and it was because Gilderoy Lockhart, the author of most of our new books, was hosting a book signing that morning. Someone announced, "And now ladies and gentlemen, Gilderoy Lockhart!" Mrs. Weasley looked like she was on cloud nine when he appeared. Mostly everyone was clapping for him, including Hermione. Only Harry, Ron and I stood there, without applauding. "Mum fancies him," Ron whispered to us, with his mother lightly swatting him on the arm. A photographer was making his way through the crowd and brushed by Ginny in order to take Lockhart's picture, "Excuse me, little girl. This is for the _Daily Prophet_." He snapped a couple of shots when Lockhart noticed Harry in the crowd, "It can't be…Harry Potter," he gasped. At the mention of Harry's name, the photographer dragged him behind the desk next to Lockhart to pose with him. "Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is. When young Harry came into Flourish and Blotts this morning to purchase my autobiography, _Magical Me_ …" this prompted the audience to clap again, "which incidentally is currently celebrating its 27th week on the _Daily Prophet's_ Bestseller list, he had no idea that he would, in fact, be leaving with my entire collection of works – free of charge," Lockhart bragged to everyone and made all of the ladies in the assembly applause louder before lining up for the signing. "Harry, now you give me those, and I'll get them signed. All of you wait outside," Mrs. Weasley told us.

We were on our way out the door with the twins and Percy behind us when a haughty voice we all dreaded to hear spoke up. "Bet you loved _that_ , didn't you, Potter? Famous Harry Potter; can't even go into a _bookshop_ without making the front page," Malfoy shot at him. Ginny somehow plucked up the courage to get over her shyness with Harry and retorted back, "Leave him alone." "Oh look, Potter – you got yourself a girlfriend," Malfoy jeered until a black cane with a silver handle rested on his shoulder. "Now, now, Draco. Play nicely," a man said smoothly. He had the same white-blond hair as the boy, but longer, ending a bit past his shoulders. I figured this must be his father as he held out his hand for Harry to shake. "Lucius Malfoy, we meet at last," he introduced himself before moving Harry's bangs away from his forehead. "Forgive me…your scar is legend. As, of course, is the wizard who gave it to you."

"Voldemort killed my parents. He was nothing more than a murderer," Harry responded warningly. "You must be either very brave, to mention his name, or very foolish," Mr. Malfoy replied. "Fear of a name only increases fear of a thing itself," Hermione piped up. "And you must be…Miss Granger," he said looking to his son for confirmation and got a nod from Draco. "Yes, Draco's told me all about you, and your parents." Hermione glanced over to her mom and dad, as they were having a conversation with Mr. Weasley and my parents. "Muggles…aren't they?" I thought to myself, _Why would it matter if her parents are No-Maj's?_ "The idea of a name is to describe a person, not create terror," I added coolly. He then turned to me and said, "Ah, I presume you're the American student, Miss Redcreek. Draco has mentioned you quite a few times. It makes one wonder what Dumbledore saw in someone like you...considering your background." That made me frown a bit and I didn't miss the questioning glances from my friends.

He continued his analysis of us when he switched his gaze to Ron and his siblings while looking through Ginny's books. "Let me see: red hair, vacant expression…tatty secondhand book, you must be the Weasleys." "Children, it's mad in here. Let's go outside," Mr. Weasley remarked as he appeared next to Hermione. "Well, well, well; Weasley Senior," Mr. Malfoy scorned, with Mr. Weasley retorting back with a less-than-pleasant, "Lucius." "Busy time at the Ministry, Arthur? All those extra raids; I do hope they're paying you overtime. But it seems not," Mr. Malfoy sneered while looking at Ginny's things. "What's the use in being a disgrace to the name of wizard, if they don't even pay you for it?" "We have a _very different_ idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Mr. Weasley shot back. "Clearly…associating with Muggles and outsiders…" Mr. Malfoy coolly replied and put Ginny's books back in her cauldron, "and I thought your family could sink no lower…I'll see you at work," he finished before stomping out to the store. "See you at school," Draco added to Harry as he followed his father out the door. _Dang! Now I see where Malfoy gets his attitude about others…from his dad._


	4. Chapter 4

Almost a week later, it was time for everyone to head to King's Cross in order to board the Express. I returned home by Floo Powder through the Weasley's fireplace right after we helped Ginny with her supplies, and told my friends that I would meet them on the train. It took a while for me to figure out how to rearrange my books since Lockhart's collection almost took up most of the space in the bag that held all of my books. Finally, with my gear packed and Polaris in his cage, my parents and I Apparated to King's Cross before any No-Majs could notice our sudden appearance. After making sure that I had everything, Mom pulled me over to the side and made me promise be extra careful this year, 'cause Lord knows if something big came up, we wouldn't hesitate to go and play detective. Dad continually reminded me to work hard, have fun, and not to get too close any guys third-year and above, or else I'd get a Howler from him, once Mom told him how they worked. I know they took their sweet time to give me last-minute reminders because I kept urging them to hurry up with their comments, switching my gaze back and forth between them and the clock. When it was 10:56, they finally let me go and watched me rush to the barrier in order to catch the train.

I made it with about a minute and a half to spare. I saw that Hermione, Percy, Fred, George, Ginny, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came through. _Where are Harry and Ron? Maybe they got on the train before us._ I didn't have time to dwell on that because the conductor gave out his last call for students to board before departing. I walked with Hermione and Ginny to find the boys, or an empty car to save seats for them. We eventually found one and decided to wait for them. "Where do you suppose Ron and Harry are? It don't look like they're anywhere on this train," I wondered. Hermione answered, "I don't know." Ginny was so excited, but also worried for Harry and her brother as well. "Hopefully they've boarded a different car, or else they will have missed the train," she said. "Let's hope," I said.

I took a nap and woke up about an hour later to Hermione shaking me. "Ezra, wake up." "Whassup? We almost there?" I asked half-awake, half-asleep. "No, but look out of the window!" I did and what I saw immediately woke me up, "Oh my god! Uh, Ginny… remind me again, does your dad have a blue Ford Anglia that can fly?" "Yes, why?" "Because Harry and Ron are driving it and Harry almost fell out!" "What?!" she cried and ran to the window with us. Thankfully, Ron pulled Harry back in, shut the door, and flew off in the direction of Hogwarts. "If Dad doesn't kill Ron about the car, Mum will," Ginny said. "She's not the only one…" I said, worried and highly irritated.

We said bye to Ginny when the train pulled up into Hogsmeade and Hagrid took over transporting the first years. Second years and above took horse carts that drove by themselves to the front gate. We arrived in the Great Hall, and I asked Fred, George, and Percy, "Hey, you guys haven't seen your brother or Harry around, have you?" "No, can't say we have," the twins said. "They weren't with you on the train?" Percy asked. "No, not at all," Hermione replied. The ceremony began and we were able to see the new batch of first-years get sorted. There were kids like Luna Lovegoood who seemed like the eccentric, but friendly type who got placed into Ravenclaw. Ginny was finally called up and the hat sent her to Gryffindor with her brothers. The sorting itself was over faster than last year's when we did it. Dumbledore made his yearly announcements a said a few words before dinner appeared. When the feast was over, Hermione and I got the password from Percy. I used it and turned to Hermione. "After the stunt they did today…I got a few choice words to describe it that'll probably land me in detention for a month. _Whoo!_ Tell'em I'll see them tomorrow, that is if they aren't expelled," I huffed. "Try not to kill them tomorrow. Good night," she said before settling down in the common room. "Good night." I was on my way to my bed when I was stopped by Fred and George. "Hello, Ez! Why so huffy?" "No time for jokes, guys. I'm just really frazzled by Ron and Harry's little stunt with the car. I'm bushed and don't wail out on somebody innocent. I really hope they didn't get hurt or seen by any No-Majs." "Keep on hoping, 'cause we heard from Seamus, who heard from Lee that they could end up in the Hospital Wing," George told me. "For what?" I asked, starting to get more upset. "They crashed into the Whomping Willow," Fred answered. " _They did what?!"_ Hermione overheard. "Apparently, they needed to use Dad's Ford Anglia to get here because the barrier sealed up and they missed the train. Snape was furious and threatened to expel them, but didn't for some reason and are still here." "They can't be _that thick_! Couldn't they have just sent a letter to Dumbledore, or wait for your parents to come back through the barrier?" "They seemed desperate, not to mention the fact that a few Muggles saw them in the car," Fred responded. "Guys, please don't tell me anymore. If they think that Snape was scary, _they dead wrong_." I fumed and stormed up to my room to unpack and go to bed. "I can see she's upset," Hermione said, trying to diffuse the tension. "That's an understatement," the twins responded in unison.

The next morning, I woke up to Hermione standing over my bed calling my name dressed for class. I groaned at how early it was, but still got ready 'cause I was fired up about my reprimanding Ron and Harry. Hermione came down first and met the boys. She gave them a long lecture about the car and how we could've gotten hurt. Ron dug into his breakfast heartily when Harry finally seemed to notice my absence, "Hermione, where's Ezra?" "We haven't seen her since yesterday. Didn't mean to worry her," Ron said with his mouth full of cereal. I walked behind them and said, "That's putting it lightly, Ronald." I gave both of them a hard smack upside their heads, earning an " _Ow!_ " from Harry and a _"Bloody hell!"_ from Ron. "What was that…" Harry started to argue before he and Ron looked at my furious expression. "Are you knuckleheads outta yo' minds?!" "We…" Ron started. "Don't answer me right now! The fact that you decided to take a _huge_ risk with that car is ridiculous enough. At the risk of imitatin' Mrs. Weasley, you could have died! _Crashin' into the Whomping Willow of all things!_ You two are lucky that you weren't smashed to bits! And the fact that No-Majs saw y'all! Do you guys understand how serious this is at all?" "Ezra, we were…" Harry tried. " _Didn't I just tell you not to answer me right now?_ You think I'm talkin' just to hear my own voice, well do you? Answer me!" I paused. " _Now?_ " Ron wondered, looking at me with a bit of fear. "Ez, you might want to lower your voice..." Harry warned, looking around the Great Hall. "Oh, I ain't even _half_ done with what I'm about to say. I honestly don' care if I'm attracting attention of _the whole school_ right now! You two took Mr. Weasley's flying car, knowing that a bunch of No-Majs could spot you from the sky, collided with a tree with a nasty attitude, almost got injured, and were _this close_ from gettin' expelled by the Head of Slytherin House… _because ya didn't have the common sense tell any of the professors that ya couldn't make the train?!_ " I finished. To say that the boys were frightened by my outburst was an understatement. There were murmurs around our table, with people making notes to themselves not to tick me off or get me worried, or else I would go off on them. I took a long sigh in exasperation and calmed down, "I'm sorry about that; I was just really worried for you guys. The good news is that you two are still here. Next time, ask for help with these kind of things, alright?" "Sure. We'll do that," Harry and Ron replied, along with Harry muttering, "She makes Hermione's lecture look like nothing." "Ezra's like a bloody human Howler!" Ron exclaimed. "Oh, you'd better believe it," I warned before I sat down to eat my breakfast.

A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall handed out our schedules. We would start with double Herbology with Slytherin. We left the castle and entered into the greenhouses nearby for our class in our gardening smocks. Everyone chatted amongst themselves until Professor Sprout walked in and tapped on a nearby flowerpot to get our attention, "Good morning, everyone!" "Good morning, Professor Sprout," everyone responded. "Welcome to Greenhouse 3, Second-Years. Now, everyone gather round," she told us and we stood in front of our own pots to begin. "Today, we are going to repot Mandrakes. Now, can anyone tell me properties of Mandrake root? Yes, Miss Granger," she asked and saw Hermione raise her hand. "Mandrake, or Mandragora, is used to return those who have been petrified to their original state. It's also quite dangerous; the Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it," Hermione explained. "Excellent, 10 points to Gryffindor," Sprout said, "Now, our Mandrakes are only seedlings, so their cries won't kill you yet, but they could knock you out for several hours, which is why I've given each of you a pair of earmuffs, for auditory protection. So would you please put them on?" We obeyed and got ready. "Quickly. Flaps tightly down, and watch me closely." She grabbed a hold of one of the Mandrake's leaves, "You grasp your Mandrake tightly, and you pull it up out of the pot-"and out came not roots; but a small, misshapen, ugly, dirt baby with leaves growing out of its head. It immediately started screeching like crazy and it was so high-pitched that everyone clamped their hands down on their earmuffs to try and block out the noise "-and you dunk it down into the other pot, and pour a little sprinkling of soil to keep it warm," she continued transferring her Mandrake to a new pot, while covering it with soil.

Neville couldn't take any more of the Mandrake screaming and fainted as it started to calm down. Professor Sprout sighed, "Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs." "No ma'am. He's just fainted," Seamus said and I added, "His earmuffs are still on him." "Yes, well, just leave him there. Right, on we go; plenty of pots to go around," she said. "Grasp your Mandrake and pull it out. We all did and soon the whole building was filled with crying Mandrakes, that I thought the glass in the greenhouse would break. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Malfoy holding his Mandrake and stuck his finger in its mouth. However, it bit his finger. _Real smart move, Malfoy!_ I thought while quietly laughing at his pain. That jerk was messing with nature, and nature repaid him with bad karma.


	5. Chapter 5

Later that day, during lunch, I was sitting with Hermione, across from Harry and Ron. Ron was desperately trying to fix his wand with Spell-O-Tape. He told us that it got broken when he and Harry ran into the Whomping Willow. "Say it, I'm doomed," Ron moaned. "You're doomed," Harry replied. "Majorly doomed," I added.

"Hi Harry!" a voice popped up, followed by a bright camera flash. "I'm Colin Creevey. I'm in Gryffindor too." "Hi Colin, nice to meet you," Harry said, shaking the new boy's hand. "Say, do you think your friend here could take a photo of you and me standing together? You know, to prove I've met you. It's for my dad; he's a milkman you know, a Muggle like all our family's been until me. No one knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic 'til we got a letter from Hogwarts. Everyone thought I was mental!" Colin said excitedly and quickly. "Hm, imagine that," Ron said.

"Colin, I'll take the picture for ya. Just tell me when you're ready," I said. He turned to me and went red in the face, before registering what I offered and his face lit up, "Really? Thanks!" "Ezra, that's not necessary," Harry tried to explain. "Oh, relax. It's only a photo for his dad. It ain't gonna kill ya, Harry," I pressed on. After snapping the shot, I handed the camera back to Colin and he started asking me questions, but not as fast as he did with Harry. There were a couple of times where he would stumble over his words and look to the side before talking to me again. It got to a point where had to stop because he ran out of things to ask me, while getting a bit more and more flustered and left and said bye. "Oh look, boys. Redcreek's got a little admirer," Malfoy jeered from the Slytherin table. "I never would have guessed he would survive talking to _her_." "An' what's _that_ supposed to mean?" I asked, turning to him and gritting my teeth. "Well, anything could set you off, after your little _outrage_ this morning. _You two are lucky that you weren't smashed to bits! And the fact that No-Majs saw y'all! Do you guys understand how serious this is at all?_ " he imitated me, with his friends laughing along. "Ignore them, Ezra," Hermione said to me, as I was glaring daggers at them.

"Ron, is that your owl?" asked Dean, who was sitting next to me. We all turned our heads to see Errol flying towards us with an envelope in his beak. He was flying fine until the landing when he crashed into a bowl of potato chips. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Flint, and other Slytherins started laughing. "Bloody bird's a menace," Ron said, and took the envelope. This one was different, because instead of the usual beige color, this envelope was bright red. _Uh-oh! If that's what I think it is, Ron's in a heap o' trouble!_ Ron started to get scared and his face went pale. "Oh no!" He tried to hide it, but Seamus saw it and said, "Look everyone. Weasley's got himself a Howler." That's when more people from the Slytherin table started laughing. "Go on, Ron. I ignored one from my Gran once. It was horrible," Neville said, speaking from past experience. Slowly, Ron opened the letter with tense hands. As he was about to read the message, Mrs. Weasley's voice boomed angrily out loud throughout the whole Great Hall, making him drop it. "RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, _WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!"_ Then the letter turned to Ginny, in a gentle, relaxed voice, "Oh, and Ginny, dear, congratulations on making it to Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud." Ginny looked down awkwardly in embarrassment, and then the letter stuck its tongue at Ron and proceeded to tear itself to shreds, ending the message. Harry, Hermione, and I were traumatized, while Ron was scared stiff with his face as red as his hair.

After lunch was Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA), and we waited for our professor to arrive. I was sitting next to Lavender Brown and she, like all of the other girls were whispering about Lockhart and his supposed achievements when the professor's office door swung open to reveal Lockhart himself. "Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher…me. Gilderoy Lockhart," he introduced himself as he came down the stairs to us. "Order of Merlin, Third Class; honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League; and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award." "Can you believe 'dis guy?" I asked Lavender, who unfortunately, had a love-struck look on her face like Hermione and the other girls in class.

"But I don't want to talk about that," Lockhart continued, "I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at him." He flashed us his audience smile. "Now, be warned. It is my job to arm you against some of the foulest creatures known to wizardkind," He said in a serious voice and tapped a covered cage next to him with his wand. The cage started to shake and that spooked everyone a little bit. "You may find yourself facing your worst fear in this room, knowing what might befall you whilst I'm here," Lockhart said, "I must ask you not to scream. It might _provoke them!_ " He took the cover off of the cage and revealed to a bunch of small, blue, elfish-like creature with wings. _What are those things?_ "Cornish pixies?" Seamus asked in disbelief." " _Freshly caught_ Cornish pixies," Lockhart emphasized, with Seamus laughing. "Laugh if you will, Mr. Finnegan, but pixies can be devilishly tricky. Let's see what you make of them, _now!"_ and he opened the cage door, releasing a dozen or so pixies at us.

They flew anywhere and everywhere in the classroom, making messes, pulling on people's hair, and just all-around causing chaos. Two of them spotted Neville and lifted him up by his ears, higher and higher until they hung him on the chandelier by his robe hood. "Please, get me down!" he cried. "Get off me!" Hermione cried when a few pixies were pulling her hair. Harry saw this and told her, "Stop, hold still!" and he wacked them off. "Let go, that ain't yours!" I said when a couple of pixies tried stealing my wand, and we were having a tug-of-war. Ron came in to help me. "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" Lockhart waved his wand, but nothing happened. One of the pixies took his wand and blasted the chain on an overhead hanging dragon skeleton, and sent it crashing down. He was desperately trying to save his self-portraits, but the pixies kept on taking them. "I'll ask the four of you to just, nip the rest of them and put them back in their cage…" he pleaded and ran back to his office, leaving us to fend for ourselves. "What will we do now?" Ron cried. Hermione whipped out her wand and aimed it at the pixies flying above us, "Immobulus!" They froze on the spot and the room got quiet again. "Why is it always me?" Neville asked before we helped him down from the chandelier.


	6. Chapter 6

Finally, the first school weekend arrived, and I was looking forward to sleeping in, but unfortunately, our Quidditch Captain Oliver Wood had other ideas, and called for an early morning practice. Angelina and Katie, knocked on the door and called my name several times. I promptly ignored them and got about two more minutes of peace and quiet until Fred and George barged in and started shaking me, "Wake up, Ezzy! If we have to be up, so do you!" "If you two value your hands, then stop shaking me. And stop calling me Ezzy!" I seethed. That made them back off. If I could have worn a sign around my neck when asleep, it would've said, " _If you value your life, do not disturb._ " "Wha' time isit?" I wondered half-asleep. I read my clock and it said 5:45 AM, and the sun was barely rising in the sky. "Who in their right mind would ask for a wake-up call at almost 6 in the mornin'?!" "I guess our favorite Yankee's not a morning person," George nervously mused. "How could ya tell, genius?" I asked with sarcasm dripping from my mouth. "Evil, too." "Besides, I'm the _only_ Yankee here at school," I said, lying back down. "Come on, kid," Fred urged, pulling the covers off of my bed. "You lucky that y'all are my favorite twins, 'cuz otherwise the next person that would've woken me up woulda been knocked into next week" I groaned, rolling out of my bed. "Glad to know that we're so loved," Fred replied back with a smirk. "Wood wants us to meet him downstairs in 10 minutes for practice," George explained. "O' course he does. I swear, the only things boys 'round here think about are Quidditch, food, and pranks. One-track minds, I tell ya," I mused as I headed to the bathroom to change into my Quidditch uniform. "Hey!" the twins cried before dragging me to meet up with the rest of our team when I changed.

"I spent the summer devising a new Quidditch program. We are going to train earlier, harder, and longer," Wood explained as we were all walking to the Pitch. "What?" I don't believe it…" he muttered. I found out why he was upset; the Slytherin team was walking our way and blocked us. "Where d'you think you're going, Flint?" Wood asked. "Quidditch practice," Flint answered. "I booked the pitch for Gryffindor today," Wood explained. "Easy, Wood. I've got a note," Flint replied, and handed him a rolled-up piece of parchment. Ron and Hermione apparently saw what was going on stood beside Harry and I.

" _I, Professor Severus Snape, do hereby give the Slytherin team permission to practice today, owing to the need to train their new Seeker,"_ Wood read out loud, and put it down. "You've got a new Seeker. Who?" A few of the Slytherin players stood aside to let Malfoy by and come to the front and face us. "Malfoy?" Harry said, 'cause he couldn't believe his eyes. "That's right. And that's not all that new this year," Malfoy bragged. All the Gryffindors looked at the broomsticks that all of the Slytherin players had, and saw that they were a different model. "Those are Nimbus 2001s! How did you get those?" Ron asked, surprised. "A gift from Draco's father," Flint answered. "You see, Weasley, unlike some, _my_ father can afford the best." Malfoy said, snidely.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way in. They got in on pure talent," Hermione remarked. "Y'know, this is exactly somethin' you'd do, Malfoy. Run 'n holler to yo' daddy about something you want, instead of workin' for it. What, would a lick o' hard work injure your wizard pride? You the biggest spoiled brat if I ever saw one. Ain't nobody wanna hear about how much money yo' family's got," I commented, standing next to Fred.

Malfoy turned to me and said, "You Americans just have to nose into other people's business, don't you? Well, I don't believe an _outsider_ should have a say in this, especially one that can't speak correctly. Just do us all a favor and go back to America and learn proper English! Perhaps you can't in the filthy ditch where your family comes from, especially your _Muggle_ father. Where they live in dilapidated shacks and can barely afford anything, even less than the Weasleys. _Rednecks_ , I believe is what scum like you are called," Malfoy jeered with his teammates going "Oooh." Some of our teammates cast dirty looks at him. Fred had to take my arm to prevent me from wailing out on him while George blocked my path. "Don't!" George whispered. "He's not worth it, Ez," Fred warned. _That boy don't got no right to talk about my family like that!_ He then walked towards Hermione with the intent to harass, "Also, no one asked for _your_ opinion, you filthy, little Mudblood." _Oh, no he didn't!_

It took every ounce of willpower for me not to beat Malfoy to a pulp for saying that. _How dare he!_ "That little…Fred, lemme go! George, git out of the way so I can kill that trust-fund kid!" I huffed. Most of the Gryffindor team members got into an uproar when he said that.

"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy. Eat slugs!" Ron yelled. He took out his wand and flicked it at Malfoy, but the spell backfired and sent him flying backwards. The whole team and Hermione rushed over to Ron to see if he got hurt. "You okay, Ron?" Hermione asked. He looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't 'cause his mouth was full, and he looked like he was about to vomit. "Say something! Spit it out!" I urged. I suddenly wished I hadn't said that because not three seconds later, Ron barfed up a slug, slime and all, on the ground. It grossed everyone out. Colin snuck in and snapped a picture from behind us, "Wow! Can you turn him around, Harry?" "No, Colin, get out of the way!" Harry commanded, just as Ron puked out another slug, and we helped him stand up. "Let's take him to Hagrid's. He'll know what to do." All four of us ran off to our giant friend's hut.

We told Hagrid what happened and he came back with a large bucket for Ron. "This calls for specialist's equipment…Nothin' to do but wait 'til it stops, I'm afraid," he said sitting down. Ron proceeded to throw up a couple more slugs, making me look away. "Better out than in, who's Ron tryin' ta curse anyway?" "Malfoy," Harry answered, "He harassed Ezra and called her a redneck, though I don't know what that is. He also called Hermione a…well, I don't know exactly know what it means." Hermione stood up and walked to away from us, crossing her arms. "He called me a Mudblood," she huffed. Hagrid gasped in surprise, "He didn't!" "What's a Mudblood?" Harry asked. "It's a word that literally means 'dirty blood'; one of the worst insults you could call a witch or wizard," I said. "Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born. Someone with non-magic parents, someone like me. It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation," Hermione finished.

Harry turned to me and asked, "Ezra, what's a redneck? You seemed ready to murder Malfoy when he said it." I sighed, still miffed about what happened. "Y'all know how my parents are from different parts of the States, right?" They nodded. "Well, where my dad is from, there are people who are classified as stupid, poor, and backwards 'cause of the way they talk. Redneck is what they're called. An' by association, Malfoy has it in his mind that I'm like that 'cause of where half of my family comes from." I didn't notice that I was crying while explaining until Hermione came over and hugged me. Ron, who surprisingly hadn't barfed up a slug in that period of time and looked at me with compassion. Harry even held my hand in sympathy.

"See the thing is, Harry, there are some wizards, like the Malfoy family, who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call _pureblood_ ," Hagrid explained. "That's horrible," Harry said. Unfortunately, the slugs came back, and Ron spit out another one before saying, "It's disgusting…" "Judging blood status based on your family, what an outrage," I added. "And it is codswallop to boot. 'Dirty blood', why there isn't a wizard alive today that's half-blood or less. More to the point, they've yet to think of a spell that our Hermione can't do," Hagrid answered. "Not to mention, Ezra's caring spirit and bright mind make her a formidable witch. Come 'ere you two…" Hermione came over to him and placed her hands in his. "Don't you think on it Hermione. Don't you think on it for one minute, eh?" That got Hermione to smile and feel a little bit better. "An' Ezra, don't let anyone knock you down because you're different, alright?" he told me. All I could do was hug him in gratitude.


	7. Chapter 7

Hermione and I waited for the boys to finish up with their assigned detentions. It was getting late and everyone else was in the Great Hall eating dinner. Finally, they came back. Ron's hands were covered in black from polishing the school trophies and Harry's hands had ink stains from answering Lockhart's fan mail. But that wasn't what was interesting. We went looking for him after Ron finished and found him in an empty hallway, with a spaced out look on his face. "Harry?" Hermione called. "Did you guys hear that?" Harry asked. "Hear what?" Ron asked. "That voice." "Voice, what voice?" I wondered. "I first heard it in Lockhart's office, and then again…" Harry hesitated before saying, "It's moving. I think it's going to kill." He bolted to see whatever was making the noise he only heard. We ran after him. "Kill?" Ron echoed. "What's gonna kill?" I asked. "Harry, wait! Not so fast!" Hermione shouted. We followed Harry to the end of the hall. There we saw a cluster of small spiders running away from something in one of the stain-glass windows. "Strange…I've never seen spiders act like that," Harry mused. "You'd think that they were ants instead of spiders, all movin' in a straight line like that," I observed. "I don't like spiders," Ron paled, his voice laced with fear.

The floor somehow was wet like a nearby bathroom was flooded. But we saw a reflection of a message written on the wall in front of us in red letters. "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir…beware," Hermione read. "Someone wrote that warning in blood," I said. I could tell by the faint, but strong coppery smell. "Oh, no," Harry murmured, his gaze switching to something else. We turned to follow his eyes and spotted a cat, hanging by its tail on one of the torches in a crouching position. Its eyes were wide open. "It's Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris."

Not three seconds later, the whole corridor was filled students from the other houses, including ours. People were gasping in shock about the bloody warning or Mrs. Norris, and Colin was about to take a picture of it, but thankfully, one of the older students prevented him from doing that. "Enemies of the heir, beware? You'll be next, Mudbloods," Malfoy scorned. Hermione sent him a glare. "What's going on here? Go on; make way, make way," Mr. Filch barked, pushing his way through students. "Potter, what are you…" he started to say, but then saw his beloved cat in her hanging state. "Mrs. Norris?...You've murdered my cat," he said, and hardened his glare on Harry. "No…" Harry tried to defend himself. "I'll kill ya…I'll kill ya!" Filch shouted, grabbing Harry by his robe collar. "Argus," a voice cut through the crowd. Dumbledore and a few other professors came to see the commotion. He saw Mrs. Norris and said, "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories. Everyone except…you four." The headmaster examined at the cat from her position while the all of the other students walked back to their respective towers. "She's not dead, Argus. But she has been petrified," he explained to Filch. "Ah, thought so. So unlucky I wasn't there, Professor. I know the exact counter-curse that could have spared her. We can meet in my office, it's the closest," Lockhart boasted. "Thank you, Gilderoy," replied the headmaster, and we all reconvened in his office were Harry finished his detention a little while ago.

"How she has been petrified, I don't know," Dumbledore admitted. "Ask him. It's him that's done it," Filch argued, pointing his finger at Harry. "It's not true, sir! I swear I never touched Mrs. Norris," Harry defended himself. Filch clearly wanted to see him take the blame muttered, "Rubbish!" "If I may, Headmaster," Snape interrupted, "perhaps Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, the circumstances do seem suspicious. I, for one, do not recall seeing Potter at dinner." "I'm afraid that's my doing, Severus. You see, Harry was helping me answer my fan mail," Lockhart stepped in. "That's why Ron, Ezra, and I went looking for him, Professor. We'd just found him when he said…" Hermione started, but trailed off. "Yes, Miss Granger?" Snape ushered for her to continue explaining. "When I said I wasn't hungry. We were heading back to the common room when we found Mrs. Norris," Harry finished. Dumbledore gave our story some thought and said, "Innocent until proven guilty, Severus." "My cat has been petrified…I want to see some punishment!" Filch yelled. "We'll be able to cure her, Argus. As I understand it, Professor Sprout has a healthy grove of Mandrakes. When matured, a potion will be made, which will revive Mrs. Norris. But in the meantime, I strongly advise caution, to all," Dumbledore finished and dismissed us to go to Gryffindor Tower.

"A bit strange, isn't it?" Hermione wondered. "Strange?" Harry repeated. "You can hear this _voice_. A voice only _you_ can hear. And then Mrs. Norris turns up petrified. It's just…strange." "I'd say you're lucky that Dumbledore believes your innocence, 'cause it looked like Filch was ready to rain down hell on you, just because you were close to his, quote-unquote, "sweet" petrified cat," I commented. "I think I was lucky enough not to have _Snape_ breathing down the back of my neck after what happened," Harry corrected me. "But still, do you think I should have told them?" he asked. "Are you mad?!" Ron almost shouted. "That will put more suspicion on you," I said. "No Harry, even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't a good sign," Hermione warned before going up to the common room. A man in a nearby portait heard our conversation and added his two bits in, "She's right, you know."


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, everyone's mind was still on the event of last night, specifically the bloody message. They were speculating on what exactly the Chamber of Secrets was and where it was located within the castle. We finally got some information in Transfiguration.

That day, McGonagall had a bird perched near her desk. "Could I have your attention, please? Now, today we will be transforming animals into water goblets, like so," she explained and demonstrated with the bird. She tapped the bird with her wand three times and chanted, "Vera Verto." The bird immediately changed into a shiny glass goblet. "Now it's your turn. Who would like to go first?" she asked walking around the class until she chose Ron to try out the spell. "Ah, Mr. Weasley. One, two, three…Vera Verto." Ron cleared his throat and tapped Scabbers with his wand three times, "Vera Verto." There was a whip-like sound and Scabbers did transform, but his goblet form was furry, he still had his tail poking out, and the rat was squeaking loudly. Some students began to snicker and giggle at Ron's misfortune. "That wand needs replacing, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall chided him.

Hermione's hand shot up in the air. "Yes, Miss Granger?" our teacher responded. "Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about, the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione said. This got everyone's attention. After a few seconds of silence, McGonagall relented, "Very well. Now as you all know, Hogwarts was founded more than a thousand years ago, by four of the greatest wizards and witches of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazaar Slytherin. Three of the founders co-existed quite harmoniously. One, however, did not." "Give ya three guesses who was the odd one out," I muttered to Hermione. McGonagall heard me and nodded. "Salazaar Slytherin wished to be more _selective_ of the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magical families, in other words, Purebloods." Malfoy smirked at this bit of information. "Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school. Now according to legend, Slytherin build a hidden chamber within the castle, known as the Chamber of Secrets. Though shortly before departing, he sealed it, until that time when his own true heir returned to the school. The heir alone, would be able to open the chamber and unleash the horror within, and by so doing, purge the school of all those, who in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic," she continued. "Muggleborns," Hermione guessed correctly. McGonagall nodded again and finished, "Well, naturally the school has been searched many times, and no such thing has been found." "Professor, what exactly, does legend tell us, lives within the Chamber?" Hermione asked with her follow-up question. "Well, the Chamber is said to be the home of something only the Heir of Slytherin could control…it is said to be the home, of a monster." McGonagall replied. _Omigosh! A monster who can wipe out the entire Muggleborn population of this school? Commanded by the Heir of Slytherin? What could it be?_

After class, Ron started up with asking, "Is it true? Do you really think there could be a Chamber of Secrets?" "Yes. McGonagall's worried, couldn't you tell? All of the teachers are," Hermione replied. "But if there _is_ a Chamber, and it has been opened, then that would mean that the Heir has come back to Hogwarts?" Harry wondered. "Well, let's suppose the Heir _has_ come, is there anyone we know who has a personal vendetta against Muggleborns?" I said, thinking out loud. "Do you mean Malfoy is -?" Hermione began. "Of course! You heard what he said; 'You'll be next, Mudbloods'!" Ron cut her off. "Maybe Ron's right, guys. Malfoy and his family have been in Slytherin for _centuries_ ," Harry added. "Crabbe and Goyle must know. Maybe we could trick them into telling us," Ron continued. Hermione cut him off, "Even they aren't _that_ thick. But there might be another way. Mind you, it will be difficult, not to mention we'd be breaking about 50 school rules! And it will be _very dangerous_ ," The minute she said that, a thought popped into my head and I dashed for the library. "Ezra, where are you going?" Ron called after me. "I've got an idea, and I don't wanna lose it. Follow me!"

When we arrived at the library, I started scanning the shelves and raving like a madwoman, "I don't know what we would have done, if you hadn't mentioned another way with Crabbe and Goyle. Thanks, 'Mione!" "Ezra, what exactly are we looking for?" Harry asked after going up and down about five rows. "We'll know when we see it. It's either been reshelved or somewhere in the back…Found it!" I said taking down a book called _Most Potente Potions_ from two shelves above my head. "I was skimming through this book the other day and came across this specific potion that I thought might help with gettin' Malfoy to spill what he knows." I flipped through the book until I came to a specific page. Hermione started reading, "The Polyjuice Potion. Properly brewed, the Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to transform themselves temporarily into the physical form of another." "Do you mean, if Harry and I drink that stuff, we'll turn into Crabbe and Goyle?" Ron wondered. "In theory, yeah," I replied. "Wicked! Malfoy'll tell us anything!" "Right, but it's tricky. I've never seen a more complicated potion. Ezra, you're one of the top students in Potions, so how manageable does this look?" Hermione asked me. I looked through the ingredient list and the instructions. "It'll take a lot of concentration and precision, but I think I could do it with some help. Some of these ingredients, you're gonna have to take them from Snape's office," I warned. "We'll worry about that part when we get there. How long will take to make?" Harry asked. I sucked a breath in through my teeth and reluctantly answered, "A month." "A month?" he echoed. "But Hermione, Ezra, if Malfoy really _is_ the Heir of Slytherin, he could attack half of the Muggleborns in the school by then." "I know, but it's the only plan we've got," Hermione said.

The next day was the new year's first Quidditch match. It was Gryffindor vs Slytherin that day, and we were getting beat down by them. One of the Slytherin Chasers tried to score, but Wood stopped him. He tried again with one of the side hoops and scored that time. "Another goal for Slytherin! They lead Gryffindor 90 to 30!" Lee announced from his commentator's box. None of our Chasers got injured yet, so I kept circling the field waiting for a chance to come in. One of the Slytherin Chasers flew by me in order to spook me off my broom. "Nice try, Pucey!" I shouted, and right before I turned around I saw a Bludger zoom right at me and I dodged it in a second. "Harry, incoming Bludger at 4'o clock!" I yelled while he and Malfoy were looking for the Snitch. Thankfully Harry heard my warning and swerved out of the way in time. However, the Bludger seemed to be attracted to him and kept chasing him all over the pitch. "What's going on?" Angelina flew by me and asked. "Don't know for sure, but that there Bludger's following Harry everywhere he flies. Fred and George have tried to change its course, but it's still trailing behind him!" I explained. _Unless I'm mistaken, a Bludger ain't supposed to target one player. It should fly randomly throughout the pitch and the Beaters should knock to the opposing team._ Wood noticed this and called out to Harry, "Watch yourself, Harry!" "Wood, look out!" Harry shouted, but it was too late. The Bludger swerved around us and broke the front of Oliver's broom, sending him spiraling down. Then the Bludger started speeding after Harry again. "Training for the ballet, Potter?" Malfoy jeered. I was about to come over and give him a piece of my mind when Harry must have spotted the Golden Snitch behind him. He dashed straight for it with Malfoy gaining on his Nimbus 2001, not to mention the Rogue Bludger still attacking Harry.

Those two flew everywhere chasing the Snitch: on the pitch, around the audience stands, and wove in and out of the stand's support beams. It wasn't until about 5 minutes after they spotted the Snitch that they came out from the support beams. Malfoy somehow lost control of his broom and tumbled on the grass, breaking his arm. Harry still trailed the Snitch and was reaching for it when the Bludger finally met its target and smacked into Harry's arm. _Ooh, that had to hurt!_ I internally winced. Somehow Harry played through the pain, but fell to the ground near the goal posts. I flew down next to him and asked, "Harry, you ok? I saw that Bludger get your arm, but what happened to the Snitch? You were reachin' out for it and fell and, and…" "Ez, you're rambling. I got it right before I fell," he said grinning and weakly holding up the Snitch. "Harry Potter has caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins!" Lee shouted. "You jerk! Nearly scared me half to death!" I yelled and smiled before the Bludger decided it wanted to finish Harry off completely. It kept aiming for him until we heard, "Finite Incantatem!" from Hermione. The spell obliterated the Bludger. Almost everyone from Gryffindor Tower and our teammates rushed over to Harry to see if he was okay. "Are you alright?" Hermione asked. "No…no I think my arm's broken," Harry winced in pain. But then Lockhart rushed over and said, "Don't worry, Harry. I will fix that arm of yours straightaway." "No, not you!" Harry gasped. "Wouldn't it be a better idea to take 'im to the hospital wing?" I incredulously asked. "Poor boy doesn't know what he's saying. Not to worry, this won't hurt a bit…Brackium Emmendo!" Lockhart chanted, pointing his wand at Harry's arm, and a blue light shone for a few seconds. He held up Harry's arm and it flopped back and forth like it was make of rubber, which grossed a lot of people. "Ah yes, well, that can happen sometimes. But the point is," Lockhart hesitated while bending Harry's wrist backwards, "you can't feel the pain, and clearly the bones aren't broken." "Broken?! There's no bones left!" Hagrid cried. Harry's wrist popped back and flopped back and forth again. "Much more flexible, though," Lockhart stated.


	9. Chapter 9

Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the Gryffindor team took Harry to the Hospital Wing to see if Madam Pomfrey could fix his arm back to normal. When we all got there, Malfoy and a few of his Slytherin teammates surrounded his bed. Malfoy was moaning like there was no tomorrow. "Oh Mr. Malfoy, stop making such a fuss. You can go. Out of my way, out of my way!" she commanded. "He should have been sent straight to me. I can mend bones in a heartbeat, but _growing them back_ …" "But, you'll be able to, right?" Hermione asked with caution. "Oh, I'll be able to, certainly. But it _will_ be painful," Madam Pomfrey replied while pouring a bottle of semi-clear liquid labeled "Skele-Gro" into a glass for Harry. "You're in for a rought night, Potter. Regrowing bones is a nasty business." She handed him the glass and he took a sip. That was a mistake, because he spat it out immediately. "And that stuff is any better?" I muttered under my breath. "Well, what did you expect? Pumpkin juice?" Madam Pomfrey asked incredulously before pouring more Skele-Gro for Harry to try again. He had to stay overnight for his bones to regrow and would be discharged sometime tomorrow morning.

Once Harry was released from the Hospital Wing, he met up with us in an abandoned girls' restroom and told us about how a House Elf named Dobby warned him about the Chamber was opened before and history was about to repeat itself. He also told us that Dobby was the one who sealed up the barrier so that Ron and Harry couldn't make the train, and he enchanted the Bludger to chase after Harry during the Quidditch game. I was sitting at a cauldron working on the Polyjuice Potion. Harry told us about what he had overheard Dumbledore and McGonagall talking about the Chamber while bringing in Colin, who apparently had been attacked and Petrified. "Again? You mean, the Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" Hermione asked. "Of course! Lucius Malfoy must have opened it while he was at school. And now, he's taught Draco how to do it," Ron figured. "That may be a possibility, but we still hafta go through with our plan using the Polyjuice Potion, just to be on the safe side. Leeches," I mentioned and held out my hand for someone to give me the next ingredient. "Enlighten me, why are we brewing this potion, in broad daylight, in the middle of a girls' lavatory?" Ron asked. "Won't we get caught?" "No, no one ever comes in here," Hermione assured him, handing me the leeches I needed. "Why?" Ron asked. "Because of Moaning Myrtle," she answered. "Who?" Ron asked again. This time, a ghost girl with glasses, pigtails, and Hogwarts robes appeared behind him. She looked like she was a Second or a Third-Year. "Moaning Myrtle," Hermione repeated. "Who's Moaning Myrtle?" Ron asked bewildered. " _I'm Moaning Myrtle!_ " the ghost girl replied and floated above the sinks. "I wouldn't expect you to know me. Who would ever want to talk to miserable, moping, Moaning Myrtle?" She let out a loud wail and floated back to the stall she was inhabiting, splashing toilet water everywhere. "She's a little sensitive," Hermione explained. "That's putting it lightly," I remarked.

The next day, all of the students gathered in the Great Hall. There was an announcement of a dueling club, founded by Lockhart. _Why doesn't that surprise me?_ I wondered. In the middle of the Hall was a table that you could walk on to have practice dueling sessions. Lockhart walked on the table and shouted, "Gather round! Gather round. Can everybody see me? Can you all hear me?" Silence was everyone's answer. "Excellent. Now, in light of recent events, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves, as I myself have done on countless occasions. For full details, see my published works." He then took his cloak off and threw it to a few fangirls who were more than willing to have it. "Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape."

Snape came up on the table. His face held a look of pure contempt for being there. "He has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration. Now, I don't want anyone to worry. You'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him," Lockhart said in a haughty voice. Both men walked up to each other, put their wands up to their faces, and bowed respectfully. Then they walked to the ends of the table and stood in position for a duel, wands at the ready. "One, two, three," Lockhart counted, and Snape answered back with a powerful, "Expelliarmus!" It was aimed right at his chest, and Lockhart was sent backwards a few feet. "Do you think he's alright?" Hermione asked with concern. "Who cares?" Ron asked. "Amen to that, man," I agreed, high-fiving Ron. "That Lockhart is something, isn't he? Justin Finch-Fletchly; Hufflepuff," a new voice spoke up introducing himself to Harry. I knew Justin from passing through the corridors and going to him for help with History of Magic. "Pleased to meet you Justin, I'm-" Harry began. "Everyone knows who you are, even us Muggleborns," Justin explained and turned to me, "Hi Ezra." "Hey Justin," I greeted back.

Lockhart got back up on his feet and walked over to Snape. "An excellent demonstration, Professor Snape. But if you don't mind me saying, it was pretty obvious of what you were about to. If I had wanted to stop you, it would have been only too easy," Lockhart went on boasting. "Perhaps it would be prudent to first teach the students to block unfriendly spells, Professor" Snape offered. "An excellent suggestion, Professor. Let's have a volunteer pair shall we? Potter, Weasley, how about a go?" Lockhart replied and motioned for Harry and Ron to come up onto the table. "Weasley's wand causes devastation with even the simplest spells. We'll be sending Potter to the Hospital Wing in a matchbox. Might I suggest someone from my own house?" Snape rejected and gave his suggestion, "Malfoy, perhaps?" He motioned for Malfoy to come up and duel Harry instead.

"Wands at the ready," Lockhart directed. "Scared, Potter?" Malfoy sneered. "You wish," Harry retorted. They walked to the ends of the table and Lockhart said, "On the count of three, cast your spells to disarm your opponent, _only_ to disarm. We don't want to cause any accidents here. One…two…" Before he got to three, Malfoy shouted, "Everte Statim!" The spell sent Harry flying backwards, kind of like how Snape pushed Lockhart back. Harry rose back up quickly and yelled, "Rictusempra!" That one sent Malfoy spinning in the air backwards on his butt in front of Snape. "I said _disarm_ , only!" Lockhart warned. "Serpensortia!" Malfoy chanted and a snake appeared from his wand and started slithering dangerously to the audience. "Don't move, Potter. I'll get rid of it for you," Snape said coming over to Harry's side. "Allow me, Professor. Alarte Ascendare!" Lockhart interrupted and shot the spell at the snake. All it did was send the snake up in the air for a couple of seconds and bring it back down. Now it hissed more angrily than it did before. Then out of nowhere, a weird noise was coming from Harry's mouth as he looked at the snake. To me, it sounded like raspy breathing mixed with a bunch of words from an ancient tongue. Then the snake set its sights on Justin, where it was close enough to strike him. Harry made the weird noise again to the snake and it seemed to understand him because it backed away from Justin and looked at him. Everyone was transfixed on what was happening until Snape chanted, "Vipera Evanesca," and incinerated the snake. "What are you playing at?" Justin snapped and looked at Harry with anger and a little bit of fear in his eyes. Seemed like everyone stared at Harry, shocked that he could speak to a snake and it understood his commands.

The dueling club disbanded after that, and we all rushed to the common room. "Why didn't you tell us you were a Parslemouth?" Ron asked. "I'm a what?" Harry asked bewildered. "You have the ability to talk to snakes," I explained. "Well, I didn't know. I mean, last year I accidentally set a python on my cousin Dudley at the zoo. But so what? I bet loads of people here can do it," Harry replied. "No, it's not a very common gift Harry. This is bad," Hermione warned him. "What's bad? If I hadn't told the snake not to attack Justin, then-" Harry started, but Ron cut him off, "So _that's_ what you were saying to it?" "You heard me, you were there," Harry reasoned. "All I heard was a weird hissin' from your mouth and the snake seemed to listen to you, as if it could understand you," I argued. "We heard you speaking Parsletongue, snake language," Ron shot back. This really got to Harry, "I spoke a different language? But I didn't realize that…how can I speak a language, without knowing I can?" "I don't know, but it sounded like you were egging the snake on or something. Listen to me, there's a reason the symbol of Slytherin is a serpent. Salazar Slytherin was a Parslemouth. He could talk to snakes, too," Hermione explained. "Exactly! Now the whole school's gonna think you're his great-great-great grandson or something," Ron added. "But I'm not! I can't be," Harry barked. "He, along with the other founders, lived over a thousand years ago. Harry, it may be possible that you could be," I said somberly.


	10. Chapter 10

Everyone avoided Harry like the plague after the Parsletongue incident. One day during Transfiguration class, everyone was working silently on homework with McGonagall supervising us. In reality everyone would stare at Harry when he wasn't looking to see if he would speak in Parsletongue again and attack someone else. But every time he turned around, those that stared at him went back to their work as if they never looked at him. Even Ginny, who practically went red every time he was near her, looked back down at her work. Finally, he stood up and said to us, "See you back in the common room." The minute he left the room, everyone whispered their ideas if Harry was indeed the Heir of Slytherin and called for the attacks.

A couple of weeks passed on and the holidays were right around the corner. Most of the students decided to leave. But Ron, Harry, Hermione, and I opted to stay at the castle. We were still waiting for the right moment to question Malfoy about his knowledge of the attacks. With my friends' help, I finished the Polyjuice Potion a bit ahead of schedule. All I needed was a couple of hairs from the person I would change into. I got them after a small altercation in the hallway. I was on my way out of the library when whom should purposefully shove me down, but the two stooges themselves, Crabbe and Goyle, with Malfoy and Daphne Greengrass beside him. "Watch were you're going, Redcreek," Malfoy sneered. They went on their way, but not before I stuck my foot out and tripped Daphne. "Oh, _sorry_. I didn't see ya; and you thought I was a klutz, Malfoy," I shot back and swiped some hairs off her cloak before running off to the others.

I came to the Great Hall and found them discussing phase two of our plan. "Ezra, there you are. Have you got the hairs you need?" Hermione asked. "Just did; Daphne Greengrass," I said opening up my hand to show them. "Now all we need are hairs from Crabbe and Goyle," Harry mused. "But we need to make sure the real Crabbe and Goyle don't burst in on you while we're interrogating Malfoy," Hermione replied. "How?" Ron asked. Hermione presented two muffins, "With these; I made them and slipped a simple, but powerful Sleeping Draught in them. Now once they're asleep hide them in a broomstick cupboard and put out a few hairs, and their uniforms," Hermione instructed. "Wait, if we'll be Crabbe and Goyle, and Ezra will be Daphne Greengrass, whose hair are you ripping out?" Ron wondered. "I've already got mine: Millicent Bulstrode. I got this off her robes," Hermione answered, holding up a small vial with a couple of hairs from Millicent in it." "I need to make some last minute preparations to the Polyjuice Potions. Crabbe and Goyle sneak around here to stuff their faces after everyone leaves. Make sure they pick those up and be careful they don't see you," I added.

It was nightfall when the boys came back to Myrtle's bathroom. "How did it go?" I asked. "Perfectly. You were right about them sneaking around the Great Hall. How thick can they get?" Ron replied. "Got the hairs?" Hermione asked. They held them out for her to see. "What are those?" Ron pointed to some folded up piles of robes next to his feet. "Slytherin robes, I had to sneak them from the laundry," Hermione explained. I set four glasses in front of the cauldron I was working with. "Ez, are were going to drink _that_?" Harry asked me pointing to the concoction I was distributing. Suffice it to say, the finished product looked like mud mixed with slime. "Unfortunately yes. It probably tastes bad as it looks, but with this brew strength, we'll have an entire hour before it'll wear off and we change back into ourselves. We each took a glass and added the hairs into the mixture. "Ugh, essence of Crabbe," Ron groaned. "Cheers," Hermione sardonically said. We toasted and took a long sip from our glasses. It was the worst thing I ever drank in my entire life. "I think I'm going to be sick," Ron turned green before dashing to the nearest stall and dropping his glass. "Me too," Hermione agreed and followed suit. "Oh, god, here it comes," I managed to say while running for a stall dropped my glass. I was like my insides had rejected the brew before it got down to my stomach for a few seconds, until my skin started to bubble and turn lighter. I felt myself growing a little bit taller, as my hair grew longer and turned from dark brown to light blonde.

Then I changed from my robes to the Slytherin robes. _Once this is over, I'm burnin' these rags and takin' a shower until mornin'._ "Harry?" Ron's voice came from his stall. "Ron," Harry said, sounding surprised. "Where's Ezra?" "I'm right here," I said, and couldn't believe my eyes. The potion worked without a hitch, and I saw Harry and Ron as Crabbe and Goyle. "Lookit us!" I marveled. "Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed. "We still sound like ourselves. Ron, you need to sound more like Crabbe. Ezra, try sounding like Daphne," Harry told us. "Bloody hell," Ron tried again in a deeper voice. "Purebloods are far more superior," I said making my voice go a bit higher than normal. "Excellent," Harry remarked. "Hermione, let's go," I ushered. "I don't think I'm going…You three go on without me," she hesitated. "Hermione, you okay?" Harry asked. "Just go! You're wasting time," she replied, and we were off to the Slytherin dungeons.

"I think the Slytherin common room is this way," Harry guessed and lead us down a random corridor. Unfortunately, Ron's brother, Percy was on prefect night watch duty, and saw us. "Excuse me." "What are you-" Ron began until Harry nudged him in the ribs, "I mean – what are _you_ doing down here?" he asked in his fake Crabbe voice. " _I_ happen to be a Prefect. _You_ , on the other hand have no business wandering the halls this time of night," Percy said in a pompous voice. "What are you names again?" Harry was about to retort when Malfoy turned the corner, "Crabbe, Goyle, where have you two been? Pigging out in the Great Hall all this time?" He turned to Harry and asked, "Why are you wearing glasses?" _Shoot, Harry left his glasses on!_ "Oh, uh, for reading," Harry replied and took off his glasses. "Reading? I didn't know you could read," Malfoy said, and noticed me, "Daphne, weren't you supposed be going home?" "I was, but Father owled me at the last minute and said something urgent came up at the Ministry, so I have to stay," I said smoothly. "That's alright," Malfoy replied and turned his gaze to Percy, "And what are you doing down here, _Weasley_?" "Mind your attitude, _Malfoy_ ," Percy warned back.

Malfoy led us to a stone wall and asked, "Do any of you know the new password?" "Try pureblood, Draco," I suggested, hoping that my random guess was right. "Pureblood!" Malfoy shouted, and the stones revealed a door that swung wide open. "Well, sit down," he said after propping himself on the couch. Harry and Ron hesitantly sat down while I stood behind a nearby chair. "You'd never know that the Weasleys were Purebloods, the way they behave. They're an embarrassment to the wizarding world, all of them," Malfoy remarked, and Ron was balling up his fist. "What's wrong with you, Crabbe?" "Stomachache," Ron feigned. "You know; I'm surprised that the Daily Prophet hasn't done a report over these attacks. I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up," Malfoy continued. "Father always said that Dumbledore was the _worst_ thing that ever happened to this place." "You're wrong!" Harry shouted. Malfoy immediately stood up, "What? You think there's someone who's _worse_ than Dumbledore? _Well, do you?_ " "Harry Potter?" Harry answered nervously with Ron nodding. "Good one, Goyle. You're absolutely right" Malfoy thought over and continued with a sneer, " _Saint Potter_. And people actually think that _he's_ the Heir of Slytherin?" "Well, do you have any idea, Draco?" I asked. "I wish I did, Daph. I could help them." He picked up a small package and shook it, "Is this yours?" I shook my head "no" and he slipped it into his pocket. "But Father did tell me this, it's been 50 years since the Chamber of Secrets was opened. He wouldn't tell me who opened it, only that they were expelled. The last time the Chamber was opened, a Mudblood died," Malfoy said in a low voice. "So it's only a matter of time before another one is killed this time. As for me, I hope it Granger. Also, seems a shame that the dirty redneck is a half-blood, because I was hoping that the Heir would take her if Granger somehow lives." That set both Ron and Harry off. I had to pull both of them back. "What's the matter with you two? You're acting very…odd," Malfoy wondered, starting to get suspicious. "It's his…stomachache," Harry fibbed. "Calm down! Stay in character, you two," I hissed. "But Ez, he called you-" Harry protested in a low voice. "I know what he said, and what he said about Hermione, but leave it alone!" I shot down. Ron gasped and pointed at Harry's forehead, "S-scar!" Harry touched his scar and noticed that Ron's hair was turning red again, "Hair!" "Shrinking!" Ron glanced at me, because I was reverting back to my normal height. _Uh-oh!_ We all rushed back to the abandoned bathroom before Malfoy could see our cover being blown.

By the time we had reached the bathroom, we reverted back to our old selves in Slytherin robes that were too big for us. "We almost got busted!" I huffed out in a panic. "That was close!" Ron said relieved. "Hermione, we've got loads to tell you!" Harry said, excited. "Go away!" Hermione yelled. "Wait till you see, it awful" Myrtle said with a mischievous smile. She opened the stall door and we saw why she stayed behind. "The Polyjuice Potion is only meant for human transformation. It was cat hair I pulled off Millicent Bulstrode's robes," Hermione sulked and turned around to face us. Instead of the face we knew and loved, she had a cat's face, complete with feline eyes, whiskers, fur, ears at the top of her head, and a tail sadly swishing behind her. "Look at my face." Harry and I looked at her in shock. "Look at your tail!" Ron joked with Myrtle laughing at her misfortune, which led me to smack him upside the head.


	11. Chapter 11

"Any more word from Hermione?" Ron asked as we were walking through the halls. We had taken Hermione to the Hospital Wing and getting to explain to Madam Pomfrey how she ended up with a cat face without revealing our plan was hard. "She should be out in a few days…" Harry said, "when she stops coughing up furballs." We rounded the corner when the floor was covered in water again. "Yuck!" Ron complained. "Looks like Myrtle went crazy and flooded the girls' bathroom," I mused. Sure enough, all of the sinks had been turned on full blast and water was pouring nonstop. We found her sniffling near a high window. "C-come to throw something else at me?" she asked. "Why would we throw something at you?" Harry wondered. "Don't ask me. Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me," said Myrtle. "Well, it can't hurt if they threw it at you, I mean – it'll just go right through you," Ron said. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, and Myrtle got upset. "So! Let's all throw books at Myrtle, because she can't feel it," she barked. Her fists went through his stomach and head to prove her point. "Ten points if it goes through her stomach! Fifty points if it goes through her _head_!" "But…who threw it away anyways?" Harry asked. "I don't know, I didn't see them," Myrtle said, her voice calmed down again. "I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, and it fell through the top of my head." She floated off, wailing again. It was then that Harry noticed a small, black leather book floating nearby, and picked it up.

We visited Hermione in the Hospital Wing after talking to Myrtle. She inspected it for a little while and said, "There's a name written in this diary. Tom… Marvolo…Riddle." "Tom Marvolo Riddle? Hang on, I know that name…" Ron mulled over until, "Of course! That night, I had detention, my job was to polish all of the silver in the trophy room. I remember Tom Riddle's name because I kept burping up slugs on his trophy." "What did he win?" I asked. "The award was for Special Services to the School, or something," Ron replied. "Fifty years ago, are you sure?" Hermione asked. "Yeah, why?" Ron wondered. "Well, remember what Malfoy told you? The Chamber was first opened…" Hermione started and Harry finished for her "50 years ago. But then that means…" "Tom Riddle was here at Hogwarts, when it happened. Maybe he was a student back then," I wondered. "What if he wrote what he saw? It's possible he knew where the Chamber was, how to open it, even what creature lives inside. If so, whoever's behind these attacks wouldn't want this diary lying around, would they?" Hermione figured. "That's a brilliant theory, Hermione," Harry said, "but there's only one flaw: there's nothing written in this diary." He flipped through the pages and showed us that they were blank.

The next day, Hermione was released from the Hospital and walked with us after classes. Harry told us how the diary showed him a past memory from 50 years ago when the Chamber was opened the last time. Hagrid was immediately his prime suspect. "It can't be Hagrid," Hermione objected without question. "We don't even know this Tom Riddle. He sounds like a dirty, rotten snitch to me," Ron said. "That monster had killed somebody. What would any of us have done?" Harry asked back. "But, what makes you say that Hagrid did it? Maybe we should ask him what he knows," I suggested. "Yeah, that'll be a cheerful visit. Hello, Hagrid. Tell us, have you set anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?" Ron replied. "Mad 'n hairy? You wouldn't talkin' about me, now, would yeh?" Hagrid asked from behind us. "No," we all replied "Whatcha got there, Hagrid?" I asked, noticing a jug he was carrying. "Oh, this is uh…flesh-eatin' slug repellant. Fer the Mandrakes. Now, accordin' to Professor Sprout, they've still got a bit of growin' up to do. But once their acne's cleared up, we'll be able to chop 'em up and stew 'em. Then we'll get those people down at the hospital unpetrified. In the meantime, you four had best be lookin' out fer yourselves." He walked away saying hi to Neville, who ran up to us panting. "Harry, I don't know who did it, but you'd better come!" He led us up to Gryffindor Tower to the boys' dorm. Someone or something did a great job of trashin' the place. "It had to have been a Gryffindor. Other than the teachers, no one else knows our password," Hermione said while Harry was looking around their room. "Who do y'all suppose coulda been in here and ransacked the place?" I wondered out loud. "Whoever it was, they were looking for something," Ron answered me vaguely. "And they found it. Tom Riddle's diary is gone," Harry said after searching for a few minutes.

A few days later, it was the Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff Quidditch match. Oliver was giving us a last-minute pep talk before we walked onto the pitch. "Alright, listen up. Today, we play our game. Hufflepuff doesn't stand a chance. We are stronger, quicker, and smarter." "Not to mention, they're dead scared of Harry petrifying them if they fly too close," Fred joked. "Well, that too," Oliver agreed. McGonagall suddenly marched up to the team, "This match has been cancelled." "Professor, you can't cancel Quidditch," Oliver protested, but she shot him down. "Silence, Wood. You and your teammates will go to Gryffindor Tower," Oliver and the rest of the team went to go change back into their regular uniforms when McGonagall turned to Harry and me, "Potter, Redcreek, you and I will fetch Mr. Weasley. There's something the three of you need to see." We found Ron fairly quickly and she led us to the Hospital Wing. "I warn you, this may be a wee bit of a shock," she said with a bit of fear in her voice. Laying on a bed in the far corner, stiff as a board with a scared look on her face, was Hermione. "Hermione…" Ron gasped. _This can't be happening!_ I thought in shock. "She was found near the library, along with this," McGonagall said, picking up a mirror. "Does this mean anything to you three?" "No, ma'am," I answered for all of us. She left us without a word. Out of instinct, I took the boys' hands and gripped them like there was no tomorrow. Ron and Harry seemed to be thinking the same thing, because they squeezed my hands back in assurance.


	12. Chapter 12

Later on in the day, all of us Gryffindors were called into the common room by McGonagall. "Could I have your attention, please?" All eyes were on her. "Because of recent events, these new rules will be placed into effect, _immediately_ ," she said and unraveled a scroll. "All students will return to their house common rooms by six o' clock every evening. All students will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No exceptions." She rolled the scroll back up and continued, "I should tell you this. Unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught, it is likely the school will be closed." The minute she left, there were whispers everywhere about the threat of Hogwarts shutting down because of what was happening. Harry turned to me and Ron, "We've got to talk to Hagrid. I can't believe it's him. If he did set the monster loose, like last time, he'll know how to get inside the chamber; and that's a start." "But you heard McGonagall. We're not allowed to leave the tower except for class," Ron shot down. "But maybe we could leave without bein' seen? Know what I mean, Harry?" I suggested. Harry understood and replied, "I think it's time to get out my dad's old cloak."

We changed into our causal clothes and made the trek to Hagrid's hut under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Harry knocked on the door and it swung wide open without delay. Hagrid couldn't see us under the cloak and called out, "Who's there? Hello?" He calmed down and let us inside when we took the cloak off, "Oh, it's you three. Come in." He poured Ron a cup of tea, but overdid it and was shakin' a bit. "Hagrid, are you okay? Did you hear about Hermione?" Harry asked. "I'm alright, and I heard about that," Hagrid nodded. "Look, we have to ask you something. Do you know who's opened the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry cut to the chase. "Now, look, what ya have ta understand about this is-" Hagrid began before his Fang, his dog, started barking loudly, indicating that someone was at the door. "Quick, under the cloak! And don't say a word, any of yeh!" We rushed to cover ourselves before he opened the door. "Professor Dumbledore, sir. Minister," Hagrid greeted. From our hiding spot in a corner under the cloak, we saw Dumbledore and a middle aged man enter. "That's Dad's boss, Cornelius Fudge: Minister of Magic," Ron whispered and pointed to the middle aged man. "Bad business, Hagrid. Very bad business, had to come. Three attacks on Muggleborns, the Ministry's got to act," Fudge said with apprehension. "No…you'd know I'd never-" Hagrid protested, but Dumbledore cut him off. "I want it understood, Minister, that Hagrid has my full confidence." "Albus, look, Hagrid's record is against him. I've got to take him in," Fudge pressed on. "Take me where? Not Azkaban prison!" Hagrid objected. _They can't arrest Hagrid like that! What was he charged with?_ "I'm afraid we have no choice," Fudge said solemnly. Then out of nowhere, there was another knock at the door, and Lucius Malfoy sauntered into Hagrid's home. "Already here, Fudge? Good." "What are you doing? Get out of my house!" Hagrid growled. "Believe me, I take absolutely no pleasure in being in your…you call this a house?" Lucius critized. "I simply called up the school and was told the headmaster was here." "And what, exactly, do you want with me?" Dumbledore inquired. "The other governors and I have decided it's time for you to step aside," Lucius replied, but you could hear the smugness in his voice as he held out a scroll for Dumbledore to read. "This is an order of suspension. You'll find all twelve signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel, as if you'd rather, lost your touch." "You can't take Professor Dumbledore away. Do that and the Muggleborns won't stand a chance! You mark my words, there'll be killings next!" Hagrid argued. "Calm yourself, Hagrid. If the governors desire my removal, I will, of course, step aside," Dumbledore relented and walked up to Lucius. "However, you will find that help will always be given at Hogwarts…to those who ask for it." "Admiral sentiments," Lucius sarcastically remarked, "Shall we? Fudge?" He turned to the Minister and left taking Dumbledore with him. "Come Hagrid," Fudge sighed. "If, uh…if anybody was lookin' for some stuff, they all they'd hafta do is follow the spiders. That's all I have to say," Hagrid turned and said to no one in particular. "Oh, and someone'll need to feed Fang while I'm away."

Fudge finally left with them and closed the door. Once they were out of hearing range, we shed the cloak. "Hagrid's right, with Dumbledore gone, there'll be an attack a day," Ron commented. Harry switched his gaze over to some spiders marching in line like ants through a crack in the window. "Come on," Harry urged. "What?!" Ron shouted. "You heard Hagrid, 'Follow the spiders,'" Harry reminded him. I grabbed a nearby lantern, got Fang to stay inside, and headed out with the boys. "But they're heading into the Dark Forest!" Ron cried. "Why spiders? Why couldn't it be follow the butterflies?" "C'mon Ron, just follow our lead and don't worry about no spiders attacking ya. Besides, it gives you time to face ya fear," I said. "Easy for you to say, you actually like spiders, hairy little beasts! You're mad!" Ron shot back.

We ventured into the Forest for a while, but it felt like hours. "Guys, I don't like this," Ron whined. "I don't like this at all." "Shush!" Harry hissed. We made our way to a large clearing and couldn't see the little spiders anymore. It was quiet for a while until a throaty voice rang out, "Who there? Hagrid? Is that you?" "We're friends of Hagrid's," Harry replied. Out of the shadows, came the biggest hairy spider I'd ever seen. It had eight long, spindly legs, a giant body, pincers the size of our heads, and 5 eyes on his face. "You're Aragog, aren't you?" Harry asked. "Yes, but Hagrid has never sent men nor women into our hollow before," Aragog said. "Well, there's been attacks, up at the school They think Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets 50 years ago," Harry started. "That's a lie! Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets!" The giant spider replied hotly. "So, you're not the monster?" I asked. "I came to Hagrid from a distant land, in the pocket of a traveler. The monster was born in the castle." "If you're not the monster, then what did kill that girl 50 years ago?" Harry asked. _Girl?_ "We do not speak of it! It is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others," Aragog said. "Have you seen it?" I asked. "I never saw any part of the castle, except the box in which Hagrid kept me. The girl was discovered in a bathroom. When I was accused, Hagrid brought me here," Aragog told us.

Now Ron, he was terrified about this whole thing and got our attention, "Harry, Ezra…" "What?" Harry said, annoyed. Ron whimpered and pointed upwards. More spiders, a lot bigger than the ones we followed, started to come down from the trees and surround us. I was starting to get uneasy. Harry saw us and got a little nervous as well. "Well, thank you. We'll just…go now," he stammered. "Go? I think not," the spider said, "My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friends of Hagrid." With that, he disappeared into hollow, leaving his children to prey upon us. "Can we panic now?" Ron squeaked.

One of the spiders landed in front of us, and Harry swung at it with the lantern. More started landing near us. I kicked at a few of them, but they kept on coming in droves. They were closing in on us, _fast_. "Know any spells?" Ron asked. "One, but it's not powerful enough for all of them," Harry said. "Where's Hermione when you need her?" Ron wondered in fear. It looked like it would be the end for us, until two blinding lights shone in the distance and rushed towards, knocking over spiders. To our surprise and delight, it was Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia. It swung its doors open, as if it was telling us to climb inside. Without a second thought, we rushed to the car. "Aranea Exumai!" Harry shouted and blasted a cluster of spiders away as they were trying to attack him from entering the car. Spiders started to climb onto the car, but it rolled back in reverse and shook them off. The car put itself in forward and sped off to a clear part of the forest. "Glad we're out of there," Ron breathed. "There ain't no way those things followed us _that_ fast," I said, relieved. I must have jinxed us, because a split-second later, a stray spider appeared and grabbed onto Ron, attempting to eat him. I tried to pry its legs off of Ron, but it held its grip firmly. "Aranea Exumai!" Harry shouted and aimed his wand at the spider. The spell sent it flying backwards about 10 feet. "Thanks," Ron gasped. "Don't mention it," Harry replied and was about to put his wand away when we heard rustling. Spiders started crawling closer and closer towards the car. "Book it, Ron!" I shouted. He obeyed and slammed his foot on the gas pedal. "Come on! Come on, faster!" Harry urged, but the spiders were gaining on us. "Get us up in the air!" I panicked. "The flying gear's jammed!" Ron cried when the lever next to the steering wheel wouldn't move. "Go, go!" Harry shouted with Ron yelling back, "I'm trying!" I reached over from the back seat, and tried to help Ron with the flying gear lever. "C'mon, c'mon, work!" I strained and pleaded. After the third yank, the car leapt into the air and zoomed out of the forest.

We landed a bit away from Hagrid's hut and got out of the car. " _Follow the spiders?_ Follow the spiders?! If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill him!" Ron shouted as the car drove itself back into the forest. "Well, one thing's for certain," I mused. "Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets. He was innocent," Harry finished.


	13. Chapter 13

We visited Hermione in the Hospital Wing the next day. Harry replaced the old flowers in the nearby vase with new ones. "Wish you were here, Hermione. We need you, now, more than ever," Harry sighed. Ron stood at the foot of her bed and I was sitting in a chair next to her and held her hand. I suddenly felt a piece of paper in her hand and took it out to see what was written on it. Harry came over to my side and looked over my shoulder. It looked like a page torn out of a library book with the subject being a mythical creature called a Basilisk.

We were walking down the second floor corridor when Harry was explaining his theory to Ron and I. "Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, none is more deadly than the basilisk. Capable of living for hundreds of years, instant death awaits any who meet this giant serpent's eye. Spiders flee before it…guys, this is it! The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a Basilisk," Harry read and concluded. "It's a type of snake, so that's why only you can hear it speak," I started to understand. "But if it kills by looking at people in the eye, why is it that no one's dead?" Ron asked. "Because no one did look it in the eye; not directly, at least," Harry replied. "Colin saw it through his camera, and Justin – he must have seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick. Nick got the full blast of it, but he's a ghost; he couldn't die again." "Which means Hermione got petrified from looking at it through the mirror. That day she was found at the library, she could have been using it to look around corners, in case the Basilisk was lurking around," I realized. "But what about Mrs. Norris? I'm pretty sure she wasn't using a mirror or a camera," Ron challenged. "…Mrs. Norris first glanced at its reflection when there was water on the floor that first night." Harry explained. "Spiders flee before it, it all fits!" "Now the next question is how has a huge deadly snake been getting around, without being detected?" I wondered. "Hermione figured that out, too. Look," Harry pointed to the bottom of the page. In Hermione's handwriting, the word " _pipes"_ was there. "Pipes? It's using the plumbing!" Ron exclaimed. "Then what Aragog told us makes so much sense. He told us that a girl was killed in a bathroom 50 years ago. It's gotta be Moaning Myrtle!" I explained.

"All students are to return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers, report to the second floor corridor, immediately," McGonagall announced. We hid behind a nearby column and heard frantic footsteps coming close to our hiding spot. The staff crowded around one of the walls. "As you can see, the Heir of Slytherin has left another message. Our worst fear has been realized," she said in worry. "A student has been taken by the monster into the chamber itself…" McGonagall admitted in a low, sorrowful voice, "The students must be sent home. I'm afraid this is the end of Hogwarts."

"So sorry, must have dozed off. What did I miss?" Lockhart asked as he approached the group of teachers. "A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Your moment of triumph has arrived at last," Snape answered. "My-my moment?" Lockhart paled a little bit. "You've been stating all this time that you knew where the entrance to the chamber was," Snape replied, with a hint of condescendence in his voice. "Then it's settled. We'll leave you to deal with the monster, Gilderoy. After all, your skills are legend," McGonagall agreed, slightly sarcastic. Lockhart was definitely nervous, "Very well. I'll just – um – be in my office – uh – getting ready." Madam Pomfrey turned to McGonagall and asked in worry, "Who is it that the monster has taken, Minerva?" "Ginny Weasley," McGonagall said quietly, her voice almost breaking. Everything seemed still for a quick second, and I felt my heart drop to my stomach in fear. The teachers moved away from the wall, for us to see another bloody message: _Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever._ "Ginny," Ron whispered in fear.

"Lockhart may be useless, but he's going to try and get into the chamber! At least we can tell him what we know," Harry said as we dashed to Lockhart's office. We burst inside and Harry started to explain, "Professor! Professor, we have to ask you some…" He stopped himself when we saw the man packing his things all frantically, as if he was trying to escape. "What's all this?" I asked. "Well, um – my dear – I've got to go. Urgent call; can't miss it," he stammered, still packing in a hurry. "What about my sister?!" Ron cried. "Ah, most unfortunate. No one regrets it no more than I do," Lockhart half-heartedly apologized. "You can't just up and leave. You're supposed to be the expert in this kinda stuff. I mean, you's our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" I protested. "Well, I must say; when I took the job, there was nothing in the description about-" Lockhart rushed. "You're running away? After all of the stuff in your books?" Harry asked. "Books can be misleading," Lockhart replied clutching a carry-on bag under his arm. "But _you_ wrote them!" Harry interjected. "My boy, use your common sense! My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think _I_ had done all those things," Lockhart explained. _I knew it!_ "You a scam! You've been takin' credit for other witches and wizards' work!" I shouted. "Is there anything you _can_ do?" Ron asked. Lockhart answered while turning away from us, "Yes, now that you mention it. I am rather gifted with Memory charms, otherwise, you see, all those wizards would've gone blabbing, and I wouldn't have sold another book. As a matter of fact, I'm uh – going to have to do the same to you!" He whipped back around with his wand out, and came face to face with the three of our wands. "There's three of us, versus one of you. Don't try anythin' stupid," I warned him. Lockhart saw he was beat, and lead us to the abandoned girls' bathroom.

Myrtle, as usual, was hanging around her usual stall, moaning away, until she saw us. "Oh, hello Harry…and his friends. What do you want?" she asked. "We want to know exactly how you died," Harry answered. "Oh, it was dreadful. It happened _right here_ , in this very cubicle," she said pointing to the stall she haunted. "I had hidden because Oliver Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying, and then I heard someone coming in." "Who was it, Myrtle?" Harry asked. "I don't know. I was distraught!" Myrtle hotly replied and continued with, "But they said something funny, as if in a made-up language. It was then that I realized it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door so I could tell him to _go away_ , and then…I died." "Just like that? How?" I wondered. "I just remember seeing a great, big pair of yellow eyes, over there, by that sink," Myrtle said, pointing to the sink near Ron.

I walked over to the sink she mentioned and looked for anything that made it special, until I saw a snake printed on the side of the faucet. "This must be it, guys," I said, "the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets." "Harry, say something. Say something in Parsletongue," Ron suggested. Harry looked at the sink and hissed some words that we couldn't understand. Almost instantly, the sinks pulled away from each other and dropped down to the ground. They revealed a giant pipe that you could slide down.

"Excellent, Harry. Good work. Now, if you'll excuse me…there's no need for me to stay!" Lockhart tried to chicken out and run. "Oh, yes there is!" Harry countered. Ron and I blocked his path and shoved him back. He stood on the very edge of the floor, leading to the pipe. We still had our wands pointed to him. "You first," Harry ordered. Lockhart glanced at us pleadingly. "Now, children, what good will it do?" "Better you than us," Ron snapped, his broken wand not moving an inch. The phony professor turned around gulped, looking at the pipe. He tried his luck again, "You sure you don't want to test it first?" We pushed him without a second thought and he went down yelling on the way down until there was a loud THUD. It was quiet, until we heard him complain, "It's really quite filthy down here." "Let's go," Harry said. We edged closer until Myrtle offered with a giggle and what looked like a blush on her face, "Oh, Harry. If you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet." _Is she crushin' on him, for real?_ "Erm…thanks, Myrtle," Harry politely, but awkwardly said. We jumped down: Harry, Ron, then me. The pipe was huge and we went down super-fast and we shouted the entire slide down.


	14. Chapter 14

When we reached the end of the pipe, we all landed on hard and spiky ground. Every time I took a step, the ground crunched beneath me. I looked down to see that we were walking on hundreds of thousands animal skeletons. "Ugh!" Ron groaned, voicing my thoughts. "Now remember…any sign of movement, close your eyes straightaway," Harry directed. The four of us walked further and further into another pipe, bigger than the one we slid down.

Harry saw something that looked the size of the Basilisk, and out of fear, I shut my eyes tight. "What is that?" Ron asked. "It looks like…a snake," Lockhart said. "Close, but no cigar. It's a giant snake skin," I replied, opening my eyes to get a closer look. "Bloody hell! Whatever shed this must be sixty feet long," Ron commented. Lockhart immediately fell to the floor with a THUD, and fainted. "Heart of a lion, this one," Ron sarcastically mused. Three seconds later, our fake professor jumped up and snatched Ron's wand. "The adventure ends here, children. But don't fret; the world will know our story: how I was too late to save the girl, how you three tragically lost your mind at the sight of her mangled body…" He turned to Harry and finished, "So – you first Mr. Potter. Say goodbye…to your memories. _Obliviate!_ " He chanted the Memory Erasing spell, but forgot that Ron's wand was broken. The force of the spell blasted him back into the ceiling and caused large rocks to fall. We all ducked for cover as the rocks came down on us.

Once they stopped, there was a wall separating our group. "Harry!" Ron called over. "Ron! Ron, are you and Ezra okay?" Harry shouted back through a wall opening. "We're alright!" I yelled back. Lockhart groaned as he sat back up from the crash. "Hello. Who are you?" he asked Ron. "Um, Ron Weasley," Ron answered uncertain of what was going on with the man. "Really? And, um…who am I?" Lockhart asked in fascination. "Turns out that Lockhart's Memory Charm backfired. He's got no idea about who he is," I told Harry. "It's an odd, sort of place, isn't it? Do either of you live here?" Lockhart asked with a stupid grin. "No," Ron said as he picked up a rock. "Really? Well…" Lockhart replied before Ron knocked him upside the head with the rock to shut him up. "What'll we do now?" Ron asked. "You and Ezra try to shift some of this rock so we can get back through. I'll go and find Ginny," Harry told us. "Ok," Ron answered and I let out a, "Be careful, Harry!" before we started to make clear the rock wall.

It seemed like forever until Harry came back with Ginny. His robes were slightly torn and his face was caked with dirt, sweat, and a bit of blood. He also had a sword strapped to his side and was carrying Tom Riddle's diary. Ginny was carrying the school Sorting Hat, and looked pale as a bedsheet, like she was ready to get out of the chamber in a heartbeat. A phoenix flew by them and Harry told us that it could carry all of us out of the chamber. Fawkes carried Lockhart by his talons. Ron held onto him, Harry held onto Ron, I held onto Harry, and Ginny held onto me. "Amazing! This is just like magic!" Lockhart exclaimed in awe as we flew into the night sky away from that God-awful chamber.

When we arrived at the castle, Ginny was rushed to the Hospital Wing. Harry, Ron, and I were brought into Dumbledore's office. "You realize, of course, that over the course of a few hours, you all have broken, perhaps a dozen school rules," he scolded us. "Yes, sir," we mumbled real low in shame. "And there is sufficient enough evidence to have you all expelled." _Expelled?!_ "Therefore, it is fitting that you receive…special awards for services to the school." Our heads shot up at this news, so grateful that we weren't going to be expelled. The headmaster shot a grin at us. "Thanks, sir!" Ron said breathlessly. Dumbledore handed some documents to Ron and I. "Now, Miss Redcreek and Mr. Weasley, if you could have an owl deliver these release papers to Azkaban. I believe we would like our gamekeeper back." "Yessir!" I said and rushed with Ron to the owlery.

At the end of the day, Harry came into the common room and told us what he and Dumbledore talked about, as well as him freeing Dobby, the house elf who warned him during summer, from his master, who happened to be Lucius Malfoy. We went down to the Great Hall for the End-of-the-Year Feast. Literally everyone around us at Gryffindor Table started asking us what happened down in the chamber. Also, Ginny returned from the Hospital Wing, looking much better than before and continually apologized because she was being controlled by Riddle to write the bloody messages and set the Basilisk out for the attacks. She opened the Chamber of Secrets, and orchestrated by Riddle, who was actually Lord Voldemort, before becoming the dark wizard everyone knew and feared.

While we were eating, Neville looked toward the entrance doors. "Harry, it's Hermione!" The boys and I looked to see our other best friend standing there, grinning and looking like she had never been Petrified. Then, she bolted to where we were and threw her arms around Harry. He returned the gesture with an iron like grip around her. She moved to me and gave me a huge hug, with me sniffling in happiness. When she faced Ron, she moved forward, but then stepped back in awkwardness. Ron cleared his throat in an attempt to make the situation less awkward and stuck his hand out for her to shake. "Ah, um…well, welcome back, Hermione." "It's good to be back. Congratulations, I can't believe you all solved it," Hermione said. "Well, we had loads of help from you," Harry replied. "Lord, have mercy, 'Mione! I'm so glad you're back! It's been a hot mess dealin' with these two who throw themselves in danger 'bout all the time," I gushed. "Hey! You came with us!" Ron cried. "You were in as much danger as we were!" Harry retorted. "I know, I'm just playin'. I missed all of us together," I conceded and got them to smile.

McGonagall tapped her glass and said, "Could I have your attention, please?" Dumbledore stood up and said, "Before we begin the feast, let us first, have a round of applause for Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey, whose Mandrake juice has been so successfully administered to all who have been petrified." We all clapped for the two of them. "Also, in light of recent events: as a school treat…all exams have been cancelled," Dumbledore announced. Well, y'all can imagine how all of the students reacted to this news. Only Hermione was not pleased by this, and whispered, "Oh, no!" Then the entrance doors opened and revealed Hagrid. "Sorry I'm late. The owl that delivered my release papers got all lost and confused," he explained. "Some ruddy bird called Errol." Ron's face went five shades of red at this. It was so hard not to laugh. Hagrid came over to our table, right in front of us. "Harry, I uh – just want you to say thanks. If it hadn't been for you, Ron, Ezra, and Hermione, of course…well, I'd still be you-know-where." Harry stood up, gave him a hug, and said, "There's no Hogwarts without you, Hagrid." Dumbledore started clapping with McGonagall and the other teachers following his lead. Then Harry joined in, along with Hermione, Ron and me. Pretty soon, all of the other students Gryffindor and the other tables, except of course Slytherin, applauded. Hagrid stood where he was beckoning for everyone to continue and we did for a long time. Everyone was safe, present, and where they needed to be.

 **THE END! (of Chamber of Secrets)**


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